BlackburnNews.com File Photo of the Thames Valley District School Board office. BlackburnNews.com File Photo of the Thames Valley District School Board office.
London

Five Schools Facing Closure

Trustees with the Thames Valley District School Board have voted to close five schools within Elgin and Middlesex counties.

The board came to the decision on Tuesday to close New Sarum Public School, Sparta Public School, Springfield Public School, South Dorchester Public School, and Westminster Central Public School.

The school board intends to build two new schools -- one in St. Thomas and one in Belmont -- in place of the five that are slated to close their doors. Sparta Public School will close in 2018 and re-open as a French Immersion school the following school year, while the other schools will close in 2020.

The board's decision came following a pupil accommodation review in the area. Trustee Jake Skinner said the board is currently faced with around 14,000 empty student spaces in its elementary and high schools.

"[The closures] solve some of our capacity issues by eliminating some of the empty pupil spaces in the territory where we did the [pupil accommodation review]. But at the same time it creates more pupil spaces as well, but in a newer facility," he said.

Skinner said while it is the intention of the board to close the schools, the ultimate decision lies with the province.

"This puts us in a position to present a [business] case to the province that justifies the construction of these schools," he said. "The province will look at that business case and decide whether or not to grant funding."

Skinner added that the closures provide a strong business case for the two new schools, however, if the province does not approve the board's plan, everything remains status quo, and the five schools will remain open.

"All of it hinges on what the province chooses to do," he said.

During the meeting, there were a number of community members who spoke out against the closures, and Skinner said their grievances were justified.

"I thought they presented a very strong rationale and their objections to school closures were good objections, so that was one of the reasons why I voted against closing their schools," he said. "For me it's very difficult to close a community anchor, something that's a centerpiece of a town, in order to justify a business case in another municipality... Ultimately, this was a decision the board made... so while I'm saddened by these school closures, I still support the school board in this direction."

Skinner said the board will move forward to make the situation the best scenario possible for each community.

"Any time we lose a school, I see that as a community trauma, it affects the social ballet that takes place in those communities," he said. "This whole process is very emotional for those people who have lost a school. I think it's important recognize the loss."

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