A plan to convert a Vancouver high school gymnasium into a shelter for the city's homeless has hit a snag.

For the past few days, officials with the City of Vancouver and authorities at the Vancouver School Board have been discussing opening the doors to Kitsilano Secondary School, on the city's west side, over the Christmas break.

But Carol Gibson, a trustee with the Vancouver School Board, said that while the discussions are continuing, the details might not be hammered out before students return from their holiday break on Jan. 5.

"It's a 14-day window," Gibson said. "And my own administrative experience would suggest that our ability to do that is probably limited."

Coun. Kerry Jang said the school was chosen "because the only other shelter in the area is St. Mark's Church, and that doesn't open until nine o'clock in the evening."

But unresolved issues surrounding costs and legal liabilities need to be sorted out before any homeless people can move in, Jang acknowledged.

Gibson said that even if the two parties can't reach an agreement in the next two weeks, the effort has not been wasted — the groundwork has been laid for 2009.

Last week, the province, the city and the Streethome Foundation came up with $1.5 million to open a total of 200 temporary shelter beds at three downtown sites over the next three months.

An estimated 2,000 people now live on Vancouver's streets, according to figures released in April by Simon Fraser University's Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction.