Boards urge Ontario to allow school closures

Ontario’s public school boards are calling on the province to lift a moratorium on school closures and to finally complete a review – started six years ago – of how those closure decisions get made.

The previous Liberal government first promised the review and enacted the moratorium in 2017, when it was under fire from the Opposition Progressive Conservatives and parents over school closures. Some families, particularly those from rural areas, advocated at the time for the moratorium, saying school closures “tear a hole” in the heart of a community.

Since the moratorium was put in place, school boards have been “delicately balancing the upkeep of aging infrastructure, shifting enrolment, and financial pressures while doing their best to deliver quality programming in their schools,” the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association said.

Six years in, boards are facing “unsustainable funding deficits,” because it costs the same to maintain and heat a school whether it’s full or at 25 per cent capacity, the association said. “For a long time, for months, we’ve been told, ‘yep, they’re still looking at it,’” president Cathy Abraham said.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce’s office did not answer questions on whether the review has been completed or if the moratorium will be lifted.

NDP Leader Marit Stiles said it’s “unsettling” that the government is trying to pretend it’s not an issue for boards.

“If they’re not going to close schools, and of course, all of us have issues around that, but if they’re not going to allow boards to close schools, they have to be able to properly fund boards, to be able to build the new schools that they need,” she said.