BRIDGENORTH, Ont. – Ontario school boards will not be able to put any more schools up for closure as the government overhauls the process, though any schools currently on the chopping block will remain there.
Education Minister Mitzie Hunter announced today that Ontario will be changing the way school boards consider schools for potential closure.
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In the meantime, she says, school boards won’t be allowed to begin any new such reviews, except for those for the purpose of student safety or for joint use between school boards.
But the announcement doesn’t affect schools for which the process is already underway, which an official says means five schools under consideration and 124 that have been recommended for closure — 40 of which are in rural communities.
The Progressive Conservatives have been pushing the government to bring in a moratorium on school closures.
Party Leader Patrick Brown says in a statement that today’s announcement does nothing for schools already on the chopping block, adding that rural and northern Ontario are afterthoughts to the government.
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