“None of it made a speck of difference,” said Heather Derks, a school council chair for Sparta Public School — one of five rural schools the Thames Valley District School Board put on the chopping block during their board meeting Tuesday night.
“It seemed like they were listening to us. We brought up articulate points. We brought up valid points. And it was like they nodded and smiled at us and strung us along.”
In hopes of addressing low enrollment while working with a funding formula based on student numbers, trustees voted to shutter Sparta Public School and New Sarum School in St. Thomas, South Dorchester Public School in Belmont, Springfield Public School in Springfield, and Westminster Central Public School south London.
The closures are contingent on funding from the Ministry of Education for a new Belmont Public School in Belmont and the new Southeast St. Thomas Public School. Tuesday’s decisions come after a pupil accommodation review report, which — among several other attendance changes — says Sparta will turn into a French Immersion school.
While a decision to close Sparta’s doors came in a unanimous vote, the decision to close New Sarum and Springfield was more polarizing.
“It doesn’t make sense to close a school which is almost at capacity, and meeting all of our expectations relating to student achievement and well-being,” said school board trustee Chris Goodall of New Sarum.
His commitment to keeping it and Springfield open drew cheers from a gallery packed with parents and students, holding signs that said “Rural schools matter,” and “Our kids deserve to go to school in their community.”
Outside in the parking lot, a sign reading “Save Springfield school” dangled from a small crane fixed on the back of a pick-up truck.
But trustee Ruth Tisdale warned against letting emotions get in the way.
“If we always let our heartstrings win, we would still have one room school houses. And that is not what our students need to survive in today’s economy, to progress, and to move forward,” she said.
Sparta P.S. will be the first to close, effective at the end of June 2018. New Sarum P.S., South Dorchester P.S., Springfield P.S., and Westminster Central P.S. will be closed by the end of June 2020.
Trustees also voted unanimously to close Fairmont P.S. in London.