Some angry N.D.G. residents walked out of a school-board meeting on Monday evening, upset that the board's president didn't show up to address concerns about a new French school set to open nearby.
St-Ignatius-de-Loyola school on de Terrebonne St. will take in French-language students with learning disabilities beginning in January.
Residents were upset when they heard rumours that students with behavioural problems will also be sent to the school, but the board stresses the school is for those with learning disabilities only.
People who live nearby are not happy about the move, saying there will be too many youths in a neighbourhood that already has a university and several schools in close proximity.
"We're flooded with students," Gloria Diblasio, who lives in the area, told CTV News at the meeting.
"There's no parking. They're always around."
Another woman says the Commission Scolaire de Montreal never consulted neighbours before making the move meant to ease overcrowding at Ecole Secondaire St. Luc.
"From the get-go it was put together in an amateur way," said area resident Anne Kmetyko.
"A couple of people threw in some flyers in a variety of houses."
Walkouts
About a dozen people walked out before the meeting even started, furious that school-board president Diane de Courcy wasn't there.
Others stuck around to learn more about the move meant to ease the pressure at St. Luc, which is crowded with about 1,700 students.
The board says that about 200 students with learning disabilities, who often can't be properly served in such an environment, will be siphoned off to St. Ignatius.
Youth workers at the meeting say the students should be welcomed, not treated with hostility.
Monday's meeting was the final public session before the students change addresses.
