Community’s heart
Group fights for school’s future
When you talk to members of a committee hoping to keep George D. Lewis School open, one thing soon becomes apparent.
This is not just about education.
Only two of the five members present have children in the school. One doesn’t have any kids at all. Yet everyone agrees that a serious effort must be made to save a school described as being the very heart and soul of Louisbourg itself.
“This is not about closing a building but a community,” said committee member Lloydette MacDonald. “This school is vital to our future economic development.”
MacDonald, who has worked in economic development within Louisbourg, says it’s been trying to make a comeback and one of the most important elements to attracting businesses and people to an area is the availability of schools.
“Who’s going to invest in a community if it’s losing its schools?” she asked.
George D. Lewis School is one of 19 schools that the Cape Breton Victoria Regional School Board is considering for closure. The board is proceeding with a school review process and committees have been set to evaluate the options in each area. The school options committees must hold three public meetings and by mid-February, each committee must submit recommendations to the board on whether any or all of the schools within their family of schools that were identified for potential closure should close, or whether another school within the family of schools should close. The board will then hold its own public meetings in March and April, with final decisions about school closures expected by late April. Any school the board does decide to close permanently will close at some point between September 2016 and September 2020. If George D. Lewis is closed, it could be replaced by a P3 school like Riverside in Albert Bridge. But the future of P3 schools, which are leased from outside companies, is also up for consideration and the Louisbourg group would like to see the fate of P3 schools decided before the board makes any decisions on board-owned properties like George D. Lewis.
One of the group’s major complaints is that they haven’t been able to get actual figures from the board on how much it costs to lease a P3 school like Riverside, and how much it costs to run George D. Lewis.
The group has been told George D. Lewis needs $7 million in renovations but they say that figure is a guesstimate and not based on actual fact. The group believes the figure is much lower.
“We just want a fair, open process and we don’t feel we’re getting it back,” said MacDonald.
Justin Mahon has an eight year old son who currently attends George D. Lewis and a four year old whom he hopes will also attend someday. For Mahon, the school’s small class size is a bonus that can’t be taken lightly.
“How can you make a decision on this when you don’t have a decision on the other?” he asks, adding that rural schools are the backbone of this province.
Brett Hanham doesn’t have any children but he did attend George D. Lewis. He says the school’s survival is necessary for the Louisbourg’s future.
According to Hanham, they filed under the Freedom of Information act, for the actual figures but haven’t received anything yet.
“We need the actual figures we can’t make fair recommendations without the actual numbers,” said Hanham.
For Ellen Cross, her children may have attended George D. Lewis 20 years ago, but she remembers the closure of the local high school and what it did to Louisbourg.
“When we lost our high school, I saw the impact it had,” Cross recalls. “If we lose this school too, it’s going to devastate the community.
“The community supports this school - it’s the heart of the community. It’s not all about the money saved - it’s a stepping stone to losing other things and our future identity.”