A pair of private schools have expressed some early interest in moving into the elementary school buildings recently closed by the North Vancouver school district.

École Française Internationale de Vancouver is already a district tenant, having leasing the Monteray school building for the past six years. But the Francophone school has outgrown that site and is now hoping for a 10-year lease on Fromme elementary.

If that plan moves ahead, it may clear the way for the school district to sell off or redevelop the Monteray land.

Another factor in the process will the lawsuit filed by parents of Fromme students in May, who were unhappy with the public consultation process that led up to the closure. The Fromme School Society has asked the B.C. Supreme Court to both block any sale or lease of the property and also to overturn the board of education’s order to close the school. That question is still before the court.

Lions Gate Christian Academy was also a tenant of the North Vancouver school district until their lease on the Maplewood school building ran out. They were unable to secure a new lease and ultimately the school was passed to Kenneth Gordon school, another private educator.

Lions Gate is currently in talks with the City of North Vancouver over placing portables on a vacant waterfront property as a short-term home. But next year, the Christian school could be moving into Plymouth elementary, which also closed this spring. The existing building is currently too small, and Lions Gate needs to secure permission from the District of North Vancouver to add on to the buildings.

balldritt@nsnews.com