Abbotsford-based (MEI) has declined an offer to merge with Valley Christian School (VCS). In a specially-convened meeting February 6, the MEI Board decided not to go through with a proposed take-over.
At a January 11 meeting at VCS, the majority of the school’s parents voted to pursue the possibility of a merger with MEI. According to the January 13 Abbotsford News, VCS — which has campuses in Abbotsford and Chilliwack — was facing the likelihood of “major tuition hikes [or] even a school closure” if the merger did not go through.
A February 6 MEI press release gave several reasons for the Board’s decision: MEI schools are overcrowded; the schools are already using several portable classrooms; and some 100 students are on a waiting list for MEI’s K-12 school.
MEI officials declared: “While three committees looked at the VCS takeover very seriously, the Board has decided that MEI would have difficulty securing the resources needed in order to proceed with a VCS takeover and still meet the requirement of a new middle school in two years as well. . . . Since all the funds for capital development must be raised from donors and supporters of MEI, the Board felt the present campus required a concentrated focus in order to meet the timelines in the strategic plan.”
The statement concluded: “MEI will continue to work with VCS in developing its goals for Christian education in this community.”