The Yukon government is considering options to include the high school component of École Émilie-Tremblay as part of the new F.H. Collins Secondary School.

The Commission Scolaire Francophone du Yukon, the French language school board, will hold a bilingual community meeting on April 16 to discuss the idea.

At this point, the government and the board are only in preliminary discussions.

Education Minister Scott Kent noted today that consideration of this option will not delay the F.H. Collins replacement process.

Instead, a flexible design that could accommodate L'Académie Parhélie, as the French high school component is called, will be chosen.

If L'Académie Parhélie was included, it would share the core components of the new high school with F.H. Collins, such as the gym and cafeteria.

"When we decided to move in a different direction with the design of F.H. Collins, this was an opportunity that presented itself,” Kent told the Star.

Luc Laferté, the commission's president, said the board is, at this point, neutral on the idea to include L'Académie Parhélie on the grounds of the new F.H. Collins on Lewes Boulevard.

"We just feel that we have to wait for the consultation on the 16th of April,” he told the Star.

The idea of separating the elementary and high school aspects of Émilie-Tremblay has been discussed since the early 1990s, Laferté noted.

Jim Tredger, the NDP's Education critic, called the idea to include L'Académie Parhélie on the grounds of the new F.H. Collins "intriguing.”

But he expressed concern that the government has lost "its bearings.”

Tredger, an educator himself, said before he could give a concrete opinion on the idea, he'd need to know what it would look like and how it would benefit the education of Whitehorse students.

"My point is, is this government continuing to grasp at straws? Have they lost their bearings, or is this a well-thought-out policy? We'll find out.”

The francophone school board and the government are still awaiting the results of a government appeal to a complicated ruling on French-language education in the territory.

In July 2011, a visiting Yukon Supreme Court justice gave the government two years to build a French-language high school that could accommodate 150 students.

The justice also ordered the government to restore almost $2 million in funding for the francophone school board.

YTG appealed the decision on the basis of what it described as legal errors and alleged bias on the part of the justice, based on some of his remarks and his comportment in court at times.

Laferté noted that with a new Education minister and deputy minister, Scott Kent and Val Royle respectively, relations between the government and the school board have greatly improved.

Even with the appeal, Laferté said the government realizes francophone school officials need more space for their students.

The April 16 meeting will be held in Émilie-Tremblay's gym at 7 p.m.

Kent also noted that on Wednesday, the house unanimously supported a motion brought forward by Stacey Hassard, the Yukon Party MLA for Pelly Nisutlin.

It urged "the Department of Education to explore models for the establishment of a career and technology centre to serve high school students wishing to pursue apprenticeship opportunities in trades.”

Sandy Silver, the interim leader of the Liberal party, has repeatedly called on the government to consider including such a centre in the new F.H. Collins build.

The government originally calculated a new school would cost an estimated $56 million.

After the main construction bids came in at some $10 million over-budget, the government announced last month it was putting aside the designs and opting for a more campus-like approach for the new facility.

The current school opened 50 years ago.