School closures unprecedented: B.C. teachers

B.C. schools are being shut down at an unprecedented rate, the province's teachers are warning following a move by the Langley School Board to shut down County Line Elementary on Tuesday evening.

According to the B.C. Teachers Federation, the doors have been locked on more than 170 public schools in the province since 2001.County Line Elementary will be the sixth school to close in the Langley District in the last six years.

Declining enrollment, particularly in rural areas, has been cited by the provincial government as the key reason for closures.

Former BCTF president Irene Lanzinger said enrolment across the province has dropped by roughly 50,000 students since 2001, from a total student population of about 500,000.

However, Lanzinger said, the number of students is now rebounding.

"Statistics show enrolment is starting to go up now and will increase over the next 10 years and then where will we put the kids?" Lanzinger said. "We've had these dips in enrolment before, and we have never in the history of the province closed 170 schools."

One school kept open

It wasn't all bad news in Langley on Tuesday evening. The board also voted to keep Glenwood Elementary open.

But Langley School District trustee Stacey Coady said it was not easy telling parents from County Line Elementary they're going to have to send their kids to a new school about five kilometres away in September.

"I've gone through school closures with my own daughter and it's a difficult place that you find yourself in, and you want to make the best decision you can," Coady said.

The Langley District is grappling with a $14-million budget shortfall, in part because of the declining enrolment, but also because of accounting errors made by staff.

Parent advisory committee president Charlene Hyra said there is no guarantee that Glenwood Elementary will remain open down the road, so they have to do what they can to increase enrolment.

"We've got a lot of work to do, but we've got some dedicated parents," Hyra said.