Rural school keeps doors open by sharing space with community kitchen

A rural school in Prince Edward County once targeted for closure, has found a new lease on life.

Faced with declining enrollment, Sophiasburgh Elementary School will be sharing its building space with a community kitchen.

A deal has been struck between the Hastings and Prince Edward County School Board and the non-profit Prince Edward County Food Hub Group, to keep the school open for at least five more years.

“We weren’t going to be successful if all we said is we don’t want it to close. You have to have an idea that hopefully is practical and innovative and suits a need in the community,” Mike Farrell, the food hub group’s president, said.

The solution involves creation of a community kitchen in one of the school’s three wings.

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The kitchen will be available for business use, public events, a food bank, and a place for kids to learn hands-on.

“This group really kind of captured the imagination of the community in thinking outside the box in creating a vision that involved all stakeholders in what they were trying to achieve,” Robert McFadden, the principal of Sophiasburgh Central School, said.

According to the school board, one of the big issues with losing schools in the county is the travel time required for young students.

There are already kids travelling over half an hour on the bus to get to Sophiasburgh.

“Add another 20 minutes to half an hour bus ride, that’s turning into 45 minutes to an hour to get to school in Picton and that was the other option,” Todd Foster, vice-president of the food hub group, said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Add another 20 minutes to half an hour bus ride, that's turning into 45 minutes to an hour to get to school in Picton and that was the other option," Todd Foster, vice-president of the food hub group, said.

His family has been going to Sophiasburgh since his grandparents’ elementary school days.

He adds that losing the school would have been like losing a piece of his family’s history.

Total funding for the project currently sits at around $850,000. Most of that will be used for startup costs, including renovations, while around $100,000 of it goes towards the first year’s annual operating costs of the facility.

Both the school board and the food hub group say keeping children safe during the renovations and during the operation of the facility is No. 1 on the priority list.

“The process has been very transparent and open and collaborative and they’ve expressed all along that they want to work with the school and ensure any of the needs of the school are met as they embark on this process,” says McFadden.

The food hub is expected to open in the summer of 2019.