A committee tasked with finding ways to keep Harrow District High School open is making one last pitch to public school board trustees.
Tuesday night, committee members will present the Greater Essex County District School Board with four arguments why trustees should reverse their decision to close the school. Those include the possibility of monetary contributions from the Town of Essex, anticipated growth in the local agrifood industry and subsequent population growth, and provincial top-up funding available if the board consolidates the two schools in Harrow into a kindergarten to grade 12 facility.
A notice of motion also calls on trustees to rescind the decision last October and implement a plan that respects the needs of students, the environment and the local economy.
"What we want to do is appeal to their conscience," says Essex town councillor Sherry Bondy. If trustees say no, "then it might not get pretty."
Bondy says town council has discussed a judicial review or further legal action but is waiting for the outcome of Tuesday's meeting before making their decision.
The province denied a request by the town council for an administrative review of the decision, but the committee has collected close to 1,000 signatures on petitions to the province.