Parties pledge action on school closures
School closures often force students to commute longer distances to get to class, place them in larger schools where they may feel isolated among already established peer circles,and remove community hubs from small towns.
At the same time, some schools in urban centres are bursting at the seams. The issue is one all three main political parties vying to form government on June 7 have vowed to deal with.
As it stands, the province gives money to school boards largely based on enrolment, leaving it up to them to decide which schools to keep open and which to close. But because rural areas and small towns have fewer pupils, they get less cash.
The Liberal government, wary of criticism that too many schools have been closed, put a halt last year on school boards recommending facilities for the chopping block. The Liberals also announced last year the creation of a $20-million reserve to help boards keep schools in rural and northern regions alive.
The Progressive Conservatives and the New Democrats have promised to change a system they say is not working.
Andrea Horwath has said an NDP government would change the school funding formula, consulting with community members, educators and experts on how it should be updated. And Doug Ford’s Tories have said they’d uphold the moratorium on school closures until the closure review process is reformed.
Mary Reid, a professor of education at the University of Toronto, said measures thus far have been Band-Aids, and not enough to tackle the underlying issue that the funding formula disadvantages small schools, leaving boards with few options.