NDP MLA Adrian Dix says the Vancouver board of education has underestimated the potential impact of closing Sir Guy Carleton elementary school, which is near the corner of Kingsway and Joyce Street.

In a phone interview with the Georgia Straight, Dix said that no school as large as Carleton has been shut down in B.C. in the last decade.

The 114-year-old school is one of five under consideration for closure by Vancouver trustees. It's the only one on the list in Dix's constituency of Vancouver-Kingsway.

"We've got a school with 380 students," he said. "It is a huge part of the neighbourhood. The whole business improvement association branding of our neighbourhood is associated with that school."

Tomorrow (October 25), the board of education begins 10 days of public consultations on five East Side elementary schools that could be closed. The list includes:

* Champlain Heights Annex, which had 88 students in its preliminary 2010 enrolment, according to a district report. It states that closing this school would save $175,134 in annual operating costs.

* Macdonald elementary, which had 70 students in its preliminary 2010 enrolment. Closing this school would save $275,593 in annual operating costs.

* McBride Annex had 63 students as of September 20. Closing this school would save $171,462 in annual operating costs.

* Queen Alexandra elementary, which has 176 students. Closing this school would save $358,576 in annual operating costs.

The school district report states that closing Carleton would save $468,120 in annual operating costs. Dix described this as "puny savings" in comparison to nearly $600 million being spent on a new roof for B.C. Place Stadium.

"Their conclusion is it is viable to distribute Carleton students," Dix said. "They list off six schools. The report overstates the capacity of Bruce. It overstates the capacity of Grenfell. It overstates the capacity of Norquay."

Dix maintained that Carleton students would end up being distributed to eight different schools.

"It's an explosion of the school community," he said. "It's hard to imagine that neighbourhood without a school. It's a centrepiece."

In an interview with the Straight today, board of education chair Patti Bacchus said she won't comment on the closure of individual schools until after she has heard from the public. The first consultation session tomorrow night will be held at Windermere secondary. It will focus on Carleton's future.

Bacchus pointed out that there has been declining enrolment in the district, and it might make sense to close some schools in the interest of making the best use of taxpayers' dollars.

However, she also said that this declining enrolment has been coupled with the B.C. government not fully funding cost increases downloaded by the province.

"They negotiate provincially with the teachers and CUPE," Bacchus said. "That's a big part of our costs, obviously. We have inflationary costs. We have fairly tight legislation around class size. We know we have to employ so many teachers."

In addition, she said the province has imposed additional costs, such as higher medical service premiums and reporting on carbon emissions.

"For the privilege of using their web-based tool, we pay $45,000 a year just to input the data that we have to hire someone to collect so they can calculate how many carbon offsets we have to purchase from Pacific Carbon Trust," Bacchus pointed out.

Closing all five schools would save an estimated $1.5 million in annual operating costs. The district report makes no mention of how much money might be generated by leasing these properties for other uses.

The district has forecast a $9.6-million shortfall next year, and a $5.7-million shortfall in 2012-13.