The parent-led group People for Education has released their analysis of school closures and declining enrollment in Ontario schools. The full report, a 14 page PDF, finds that nearly 200 schools are slated for closing and another 163 are under review.
A recent Globe and Mail article looks at the effect low birth rates have had on school availability while CTV looks at People for Education’s desire to see the closing schools repurposed.
The report also looks into the funding structure, finding that school funding is based on 1997 enrollments, which have dramatically changed, with many districts seeing a 20% drop in enrollment in the last 5-7 years.
Key statement from the CTV article:
“However, in rural areas, closure can harm community viability. In urban ones, closure can lead to the loss of a potential neighbourhood hub.”
Going to one school system can prevent these problems in many cases. Under one school system, we could merge half empty public and Catholic schools in the same area and ensure that all communities and neighbourhoods retain at least one school that all can attend. It is crazy to keep excess schools open. Our province has a $27 billion deficit. We can’t afford it. We also can’t afford to keep two school systems and bus kids out of their own communities which might have a publicly funded school, but not the “right” one (public vs. Catholic).