Losing a community school in Amherstburg is something the mayor says would be detrimental to its growth.
A preliminary report was presented to council by a lawyer hired by the town to help save local schools. Council agreed to pay the Leardi Law Firm up to $12,000 for legal services.
Mayor Aldo DiCarlo says the town wants to work with the public school board to avoid closures. "One of the alternatives is possibly amalgamating schools, getting one new school or this whole community hub idea where you have multi-use buildings," says DiCarlo.
He says he worries what Amherstburg would look like without a community school. "Obviously if you don't have schools in your district you're not going to attract young families because they don't want to bus their kids too far for school," says DiCarlo. "Amherstburg is in a position of having two (closed) but they're two very different high schools and we don't think we can afford to lose either one."
The Greater Essex County District School Board is studying the future of General Amherst, Kingsville District and Harrow District high schools as well as Western Secondary and Harrow Public School.
The final Program and Accommodation Review Committee meeting is 6:30pm Tuesday at Migration Hall in Kingsville.