Thunder Bay school closure vote set for fall

The Lakehead District School Board's recommendation to close several Thunder Bay elementary and high schools was brought on by a recent funding change, one of the board's superintendents said.

Last week, board administration presented its final recommendations for north side and south side renewal plans to trustees. The plans recommend closing several schools and consolidating students into fewer locations.

North side renewal plan:

• Approve the consolidation of high school students from Superior Collegiate and Vocational Institute into Hammarskjold High School for the 2017-2018 school year
• Approve the closure of St. James Public School, C.D. Howe Public School and Vance Chapman Public School, effective June 30, 2018
• Relocate students from these elementary schools to the renovated Superior Collegiate and Vocational Institute site, effective September 2018

South side renewal plan:

• Approve the consolidation of high school students from Sir Winston Churchill Collegiate and Vocational Institute into Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute for the 2017-2018 school year
• Approve the closure of Agnew H. Johnston Public School and Edgewater Park Public School, effective June 30, 2018
• Relocate students from these schools to a newly constructed elementary school on the Sir Winston Churchill Collegiate and Vocational Institute site, effective September 2018

Provincial policy change

David Wright, the board's superintendent of business, said the board has taken a funding hit due to a change in how the province funds schools.

"For a very long time, the Ministry of Education supported under-utilized schools and empty space, because they were really trying to keep schools open," Wright said. "Obviously, everybody knows the significant economic difficulties that the province is facing — that everybody's facing — and they've refocused their funding efforts on schools, and seats in schools, where there are children."

"It's a million-and-a-half-dollar impact on our operating funding."

The board's existing schools have a capacity of about 13,000 students, Wright said.

This year, just under 9,000 students were enrolled across Thunder Bay's public schools.

"There are more opportunities for programs in secondary schools when you have a critical mass of 1,000 or more students," he said. "We believe we'd be able to provide better opportunities for our secondary students with amalgamated schools. Similarly, for elementary schools, there are opportunities that can be given to elementary students when there is a larger critical mass."

"So it is financially-driven, but it's certainly program-driven, as well."

Some renovations will need to take place to accommodate the recommendations, should they be approved. But the recommendations were made with a mind to keeping those to a minimum.

For example, Wright said, Hammarskjold has a capacity of nearly 1,300 students. There were less than 800 enrolled there this year.

"With very little in terms of renovation and construction, we can accommodate all the students from Superior in Hammarskjold," he said. "Superior was built to house 950 students, and we would need an addition on that site to accommodate all the students from Hammarskjold."

Vote scheduled for October

Trustees will vote on the recommendations on Oct. 4.

In September, members of the public will have another opportunity to provide input through an open delegation process, Wright said.

"They're going to invite the public to provide a delegation to them as trustees, to state their concerns, their agreement or disagreement with the recommendations," he said.

More information about how to request a delegation can be found in the renewal section of the board's website at lakeheadschools.ca.