MONTREAL - Parents and polticians are lobbying the English Montreal School Board to keep Royal Vale High School right where it is.

For years the EMSB has been trying to come up with plans to use Wagar High School in Cote St. Luc, which was closed in 2005.

Proposals to transform Wagar into a school that focuses on sports and languages have received weak responses from parents, so now the board is debating whether high school students from Royal Vale should be moved.

The overwhelming majority of children who attend Royal Vale live in NDG, and many parents like not only having a school in their neighbourhood, but enjoy knowing their children can stay in the same building from kindergarten to Grade 11.

"What would it mean if someone was to tell you there was a split in family. This is what it means to us," said Aliya Ahmad.

Royal Vale is the only public English-language high school in NDG, and its focus on math and science programs draws students from across the city.

Parents say Royal Vale, located on Somerled Ave. in NDG, is also much more accessible than Wagar, which is four km away on Parkhaven Ave.

"Taking it out and moving it to Cote St. Luc is not actually going to fix anything," said Debora Mas.

On Monday night NDG borough councillors debated the EMSB's proposition, and tabled a motion against the move.

"This one is so self-evidently wrong," said councillor Marvin Rotrand. "That the fact the school board is looking at it almost defies logic."

The motion, which is not binding on the school board, passed unanimously, but councillor Susan Clarke hopes the EMSB takes the motion to heart.

"We're saying as a borough that we disagree with their proposition to break the school in half," said Clarke.

Not everyone with the EMSB thinks moving Royal Vale to Wagar is a good idea.

Commissioner Albert Perez says Wagar would need $300,000 in repairs before students could roam the hallways.

I believe the arguments for Royal Vale to stay are much stronger than for Royal Vale to leave," said Perez.

The school board is expected to decide in January whether Royal Vale will be relocated.