The Catholic school board committee considering a recommendation to close St. Louis elementary school in Leamington is being told to consider closing Queen of Peace elementary school instead.
A delegation from the St. Louis school community made the case their site was better for a consolidated JK to Grade 6 school in town.
"We have that community hub that the ministry [of education] is looking for, so why are we going to dismantle that and try to move it somewhere else?" says Marianne Baeini, chair of the advisory council at St. Louis.
A public consultation meeting was held at Cardinal Carter High School in Leamington on Monday night as part of the accommodation review process considering a recommendation from administration at the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board to create a middle school at Cardinal Carter made up of grades seven and eight while consolidating JK to grade six students at Queen of Peace — closing the St. Louis site.
Chair of the Queen of Peace School Advisory Council, Francine Mastronardi, feels her school is the right one to keep open and agreed with administration's proposal. She says location is key for the consolidated school, saying her daughter already knows her way around Cardinal Carter thanks to attending Queen of Peace.
"If [she] weren't next door, she wouldn't have been at such ease directing herself in the high school and she's only 11," says Mastronardi. "That in itself shows how proximity to the next school makes a difference."
Baeini feels Queen of Peace's proximity to Cardinal Carter isn't as big of an asset as some may make it out to be.
"That campus feel is more for grades six, seven and eight that are essentially now going to the middle school," says Baeini. "You're not going to see the kindergartners, grades one and two going to Cardinal Carter as much as the older kids would."
Trustees are set to vote on final recommendations at a meeting on April 5.