Eastern Ontario board report recommends closing 29 schools

Twentynine schools in small towns and rural areas of Eastern Ontario could close if trustees vote to accept the recommendations of staff atthe Upper Canada District School Board.

In its Building for the Future Pupil Accommodation review, board staff recommend that 16 schoolsincluding two high schoolsclose at the end of the current school year in June 2017.

They include facilities inPakenham,Bathurst, Oxford-on-theRideau, andPlantagenet, Ont.

• View the full report with names of all 29 schools (PDF)

The report says these students could be busedto other schools that are under capacity and there wouldn't be any need to add portables.

The remaining 13 schools would consolidate with other schools and would requireportables to accommodate the influx of new students.

'Anything is possible' says board chair

"There's a significant number of schools and anything is possible," said Jeff McMillanchair of the Upper Canada District School Board.

"I would never want to lead the public to believe that thiscouldn't happen but I'm not saying that it could so it's a matter for the process to unfold as it should and the board to make an informed decision at the end of March."

The staff report states there is an excess ofsurplus classroom space due to declining enrolment;at the elementary level the decline has been 17per cent from 2005 to2015.Similarly, secondary school enrolments over the same period declined by about4,000 students, or 30 percent.

McMillan says some schools are operating at 30 per cent capacity.He adds that the board was already in a situation of declining enrolment before 2005 and the truedrop in enrolment is more in thearea of 10,000 students.

Parent calls proposal 'drastic'

Several parents at PakenhamPublic School were shocked to hearnews their school might close. Tony Morrow says as a foster parent of special needs children the school has devoted a lot of attention to their education.

"I think it would be drastic,"said Morrow."It's a small-school atmosphere and the amount of extra effort they put in to challenge children is bar none."

Another parent, James Lyons, has a son in junior kindergarten at the school.

"That would be a shame," he said. "This is a great school for the community and what about all the kids that would have to travel?" Lyons said he'd be complaining to histrustee.

Staff says measure only temporary

Staff hopes themeasure would only be temporary until schools are upgraded or replaced with new ones altogether.

But the report states the Ministry of Education's capital upgrade criteria makesit is impossible to make a case for upgrades or new schools unless surplus school space is consolidated.

The draft report is scheduled to be discussed at the Upper Canada and District Board meeting on Wednesday night at the board office in Brockville.

The report concludes saying "parents, students and the public will have many opportunities" to share their thoughts on the recommendations"

Jim McMillan says this is an opportunity to build for the future.

"I think the thing that probably concerns me the most is theresponsewe're going to get from the public they're going to see this not as building but removing something," saidMcMillan."We know that in our small schools we aren't providing the learning experience we provide in larger schools."

A final decision by the board is expected by the end of March2017.