Local residents are voicing their opinions about how best to utilize Harrow District High School once it closes its doors in June.
Around 40 people attended a public meeting on Wednesday at the Camoes Portuguese Club to discuss the future of the property.
At the meeting, Town of Essex Councillor Bill Caixeiro presented some suggestions, which included pre-school, senior and fitness programming, and allowing the Ontario Provincial Police to set up a headquarters for the local detachment.
However, to move forward with any plan, the town will need to acquire the property from the Greater Essex County District School Board.
In an effort to keep education in Harrow, it was also suggested at the meeting that an "independent cooperative school" be created, which would be a free private facility funded by the local community.
Another idea put forward during the meeting, was having the town reach out to other local school boards to see if there is any interest in one of them taking over the Harrow high school.
"That's the kind of creative thinking that has to take place, because obviously there's some challenges when it comes to small communities and keeping education in them," says Caixeiro.
"We would welcome one of the co-terminus boards being interested in keeping the facility open in an educational fashion," he says. "If that's not the case, then I think for a couple of reasons at least, we would certainly entertain the acquirement of the school."
However, Caixeiro says council feels acquiring the school isn't something the town should have to pay for.
"We feel that it's a public asset that has already been paid for by the taxpayer," he says. "We certainly feel that, under the circumstances, it's the least that could be done to allow us to take ownership of that property in hopes of creating some sort of a positive out of something that's been a fairly negative thing for the town."
Back in October 2015, the Greater Essex County District School Board opted to close the school as part of a programs and accommodation review in the southern end of Essex County.
Caixeiro says there is still some animosity toward the school administration as a result of the decision.
"We really feel that administration has not been forth coming with the proper information," he says. "We feel they manipulate numbers and we feel that they've always painted a bad picture of the Harrow school."
Caixeiro says council will need to come up with a more fined-tune plan before moving forward with any decision. As well, he says council most likely create a task force to conduct a study from a community perspective.