Community divided on new Eastern Shore school site

The Eastern Shore will be getting a new school to replace both Gaetz Brook Junior High and Eastern Shore District High School.

The need for a new school has been a long time coming and the consolidation of the junior high and high schools is shown to be widely supported after an extensive consultation process.

But the school community is now divided on the location that was chosen — the industrial park in East Chezzetcook.

“Some of the residents are saying why there, some people are saying why not there,” said David Hendsbee, regional councillor for the area.

“I believe it should be at a site that’s more appropriate, either in Musquodoboit Harbour or Porters Lake.”

Currently, Gaetz Brook Junior High is located off Nova Scotia Trunk 7 in Chezzetcook. Eastern Shore District High School, meanwhile, is located about five minutes down the road, in the heart of Musquodoboit Harbour. The school is within walking distance of the Musquodoboit Harbour Public Library and Rec Centre and several fast food joints where students can buy lunches.

Since the location was announced there’s been a mix of outrage and support online. Some families in Porters Lake are supportive of the new location as it’s slightly closer to their own community, but many in Musquodoboit Harbour say moving the schools to the industrial park will be a major loss.

“There’s no connectivity to either community,” says Hendsbee.

“There’s no services there for the youth; if they come out for their recess breaks or lunch breaks they can’t go anywhere. They’re going to be bound and isolated in an industrial park.”

When asked about the site location after cabinet last Thursday, Education Minister Zach Churchill said a number of factors were considered.

“Room to grow in the current location isn’t there, and considering what the long-term demographics can be in that area, considering also the consolidation of those two schools together in one, and also what other capital needs are in that area.”

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But Hendsbee says the community hasn’t been given any information on how or why the site was chosen, and says one of the biggest concerns being raised by community members is that consultation was only about consolidating the two schools, not on the site itself.

On Tuesday at regional council, Hendsbee proposed a motion to have the mayor write a letter of concern to the provincial government about the chosen site for the school. The motion passed with unanimous support.

“We send a lot of letters to the government and I expect the province will probably just ignore it,” said Hendsbee, but he says he hopes that the Department of Education will at least come forward to provide the public with more information on why this specific site was chosen.

“I’d like to see the province actually show the data, how they made the decision,” said Hendsbee.

“Where are the facts to support it? Where’s the transparency? Where’s the data on the other site selections that normally come with this process?”