English public board makes final school closure recommendations

Ottawa's English-language public school board has issued its final recommendations for which of its schools will be closed, which schools will see their grade structures rearranged, and where affected students will eventually end up.

In all, eightschools in the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board remain slated for closure, according to the staff reportissued late Friday afternoon:

• Century Public School
• D. Aubrey Moodie Intermediate School
• Grant Alternative School
• Greenbank Middle School
• J.H. Putnam Public School
• Leslie Park Public School
• Regina Street Public School
• Rideau High School

Friday's finalized list matches the initial listof OCDSB schools thatwere recommended to be closed last August. However, the board is now recommending that the closure of one of those schools, J.H. Putnam, be delayed until a new intermediate wing is opened at AgincourtRoad Public School.

That recommendation could put off the school's closure until 2019.

The final staff reportcovers the board'swestern area and its eastern secondary area, and it's expected to be presented to the board's committee of the whole on Feb. 13.

• Read the eastern report summary here
• Read the western report summary here

Family and school delegations will make their own arguments that day, after which the committee will begin deliberations, board spokeswoman Sharlene Hunter said in an email.

The board is expected to make its final decisions about the reports at two meetings on March 1 and March 7.

Friday's report comes on the heels of a series of public consultations, all part of a comprehensive review aimed at addressingthe fact the board is facing thousands of so-called"excesspupil spaces."

The OCDSBhas undertaken the sweeping review with a number of goals in mind, including creating more consistent school sizes and providing fairer access to school programming.

A third review for schools in Alta Vista, Hunt Club and Beacon Hill is set to begin in April, with final decisions coming by December 2017.

Eastern secondary area report summary

Western area report summary