Decision on whether to reverse closure of 2 Elgin County schools delayed until November

The possible closure of two schools in Elgin County sparked a fiery debate at Tuesday night’s Thames Valley District School Board meeting.

School board trustees are considering a motion to undo a decision to close New Sarum Public School, which is located east of St. Thomas, and Springfield Public School, located northeast of Aylmer.

Trustees voted in May 2017 to close the two schools in June 2020, contingent on funding from the province for the construction of two new public schools in the region, Belmont and Southeast St. Thomas.

Parents and community advocates were hoping to speak to the board about the issue on Tuesday night but were prevented from doing so.

Board trustee Jake Skinner voted against allowing the public to speak, arguing that the entire community, including those who support the closures, hadn’t been given a chance to appear.

Trustee Meagan Ruddock — who, along with fellow trustee Bruce Smith, put forward the motion to scrap the planned closures — said trustees shouldn’t be in the business of vetting public comments.

“Are we prepared to vet all public input as to the fairness that their diversity represents?” Ruddock said. “What right do we have as trustees to determine the desirability of public inputs, and what right does chair’s committee have to determine that we are not going to hear public input?

“I personally find this worrisome.”

Trustee Lori-Ann Pizzolato argued that if fairness was the issue, the school board could allow the public more than one opportunity to speak.

The effort to allow public input ultimately lost by one vote. While eight out of 13 trustees voted in favour of allowing the public comments, a two-thirds majority was needed.

The decision about whether to reverse the closures was deferred to the next board meeting on Nov. 26.