Delay in closure study stokes anxiety over fate of Alta Vista, Hunt Club schools

Province expected to change some rules that govern ‘accommodation reviews’

Parents and students in Alta Vista and Hunt Club will have to wait a little longer to find out the fate of the English public schools in their neighbourhoods.

A study of 19 schools in the area that was to begin in September is in limbo because the province is expected to change some of the rules that govern such “accommodation reviews.”

Everything is on hold, says Shirley Seward, chair of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. She expects more information from the province as early as today.

In the meantime, it looks like the Alta Vista-Hunt Club study will be delayed — again. It was originally scheduled to start this spring, but staff said a break was needed after the exhausting school closure debates that engulfed the board this school year. Trustees voted to close six schools in the west end and Rideau High School.

“I don’t believe we will be starting any accommodation reviews in September,” Seward said.

Trustees voted Monday to delay approving the entire schedule for accommodation reviews. That was the last board meeting of the school year, so unless trustees hold an emergency meeting in the summer, the Alta VistaHunt Club study won’t begin until sometime next school year at the earliest.

It’s not clear if reviews of other neighbourhoods will be delayed. The Centretown area was slated for review in September 2019, Stittsville and the south urban area in 2020, and the eastern part of the region in 2021.

Trustee Chris Ellis said the delay may be a good thing if new provincial rules improve community consultations. But it also means more anxiety for students and parents in Alta Vista and Hunt Club, who are already trying to guess which schools might be targeted for closure.

“When parents are enrolling their children, they are trying to second guess. They don’t want to start in a school that may close in a couple of years.”

The Ontario government is pressuring school boards to get rid of empty spaces.

There has been particular outrage from residents in rural areas, who say closing a school has a devastating impact on small communities.

Ellis speculates the province may change the rules to make sure that school boards consider the social and economic impact of closing a school on the whole community.

When parents are enrolling their children, they are trying to second guess. They don’t want to start in a school that may close …