Trustees closing St. Agatha school

Monday night’s 8-1 vote marks end of third review the small rural school has faced since 2009

WATERLOO REGION — A tiny, faltering elementary school in St. Agatha has run out of time.

Catholic trustees voted 8-1 Monday to close the underused village school, the third time the school board has deliberated its fate in nine years.

The school, west of Waterloo in Wilmot Township, won reprieves in 2009 and again in 2014 but did not survive a third review launched last June.

“We have three schools and we only really need two,” trustee Bill Conway said. “These are taxpayer dollars we are spending. We need to make sure we’re spending it wisely.”

“We as trustees have to make decisions based on the system as a whole,” trustee Melanie Van Alphen said.

Parents watched with dismay but not surprise. “I still feel it’s unfair,” said Therese O’Connor, who has two children at the school.

Like other parents, she feels blindsided that the board launched another closure

review just two years after voting in 2014 to keep the school open.

“It’s abuse of power,” said Janek Jagiellowicz, who has two children at the school. He’s a former trustee who voted to save the school in 2014.

The 34-year-old school with 82 students is the smallest and least-used in the Waterloo Catholic District School Board. Nineteen of its students live in the historic village, but only one student walks to the school.

It operates at less than half its capacity and needs $3.4 million in repairs in the next decade. Closing it will save taxpayers $426,000 a year.

In September, its students will be redistributed to fill empty space at St. Clement Catholic School in St. Clements and Holy Rosary Catholic Elementary School in Waterloo.

With new students on their way, Holy Rosary may no longer have to demolish up to seven empty classrooms. But even after St. Agatha students are relocated, board planners estimate that St. Clement and Holy Rosary will collectively be one-third empty by 2026, as Catholic enrolment falters in the northwest of the region.

The school’s remaining families and some politicians had rallied to save it, asking the board to keep it open until it can be replaced.

Trustees were told the Ministry of Education will not pay to repair or replace it, as surrounding schools have space for all its students, and the province has new policies meant to encourage cost-effective boards.

Trustee Amy Fee voted against closing the school, arguing the board communicated poorly with families and left them feeling blindsided.

Trustee Manuel da Silva disagreed with Fee. “This board and previous boards have listened to the community,” he said.

He argued that the board let a difficult situation linger for nine years by not closing the school in 2009.

“The facts are in front of us,” trustee Brian Schmalz said, in support of closing the school.

This board and previous boards have listened to the community. MANUEL DA SILVA