Boards, municipalities need to talk about school closures, education minister says

Ontario's education minister says school boards and municipalities are being reminded they need to consult with each other when it comes to makingthe decision to close schools.

Mitzie Hunter and her Queen's Park colleague BobChiarelli, the province's infrastructure minister and MPP for Ottawa WestNepean, recently sent a letter to Ontario's "municipal leaders and school board leaders" to reiterate that they should be working together when it comes to making that "difficult" decision.

"That conversation needs tobe happening," Hunter told Alan Neal, host of CBC Ottawa'sAll In A Day.

"At thesame time, we know that schoolboards are always thinking about what [they]need to do to provide the best opportunity for our students.Because that's their responsibility."

Hunter's comments come one day after CBC News reported on the situation facingYarkerFamily School, a junior kindergarten to Grade 3 school in Yarker, Ont., a small town about 30 kilometres northwest of Kingston.

• School closures will turn villages into ghost towns, rural residents warn

The school's student population has shrunk to just 26 children, approximately one-third of the of the school'scapacity. That's led people throughout Stone Mills Township to worry that shutting downYarkerFamily School could trigger awave of rural school closures.

Yarker'sschool is the only one in the township currently under review, but the Limestone District School Board's long-term pupil accommodation plan recommends reviewing the other four all of which are under capacity next year.

"This school has been the heart of our community for over 150 years," said Jill Kilgour, who moved back home toYarkerthree years ago so her children could attend the same schools he did.

"It would really be a shame to see our heart stop beating here."

'Shifting demographics' the new reality

The township's council hired a consultant to add upwhat school closures would cost the local economyand its report estimated losses of close to $3.2 million per year an amount equal to more than half of Stone Mills'annual budget.

"The reality isthatthere are shifting demographics across the province. There are differing needs for the student population of today. So we don't expect the same schools are going to serve the samecommunities, without any change, over time," Hunter toldAll In A DayWednesday.

Hunter said the province can provide boards extra funding so that they're able to keep open a school that's not nearanother facility.

She added that school boards and municipalities are required to meet annually to talk about local planning matters.

"We are very supportive of those types of conversations happening amongst communities and school boards," Hunter said.

Stone Mills township is not the only eastern Ontario municipality facing the spectre of school closures.

Last week, the Upper Canada District School Boardvoted to close 12 schools in small communities outside of Ottawa.