In less than a month, the Strait regional school board will decide whether to shut the doors of three community schools.
Board members will meet tonight for a final time to gather answers to their remaining questions before travelling to the affected communities in early March to make each decision.
It’s been an arduous year for all parties.
The most recent round of meetings in Evanston, Canso and Heatherton drew large crowds mainly opposed to students being bused out of their communities.
"Removing the school cuts the heart out of communities, and the whole identity for a whole generation of students is lost," said Randy Delorey, a member of the study committee for Rev. H.J. MacDonald School in Heatherton.
"Our research has only shown negative impacts to community school closures — increased dropout, failure and behavioural problems."
The board, meanwhile, is adamant that it will provide the same or better levels of education and support to students if they are moved to larger schools.
Beyond enrolment declines, the board was hit last year with a 2.4 per cent budget cut from the Education Department, along with increased costs for fuel, electricity and day-to-day operations.
Last year, the board cut 15 per cent from its administration costs, eliminated 14 teaching positions and jettisoned all its consultants. It recently received word that its budget will be reduced by a further 2.1 per cent this year, meaning it will have to find another $2.5 million in savings by April.
"If you spend more money on heats and lights and maintenance, then you have less money for the classroom," said board superintendent Jack Beaton.
"We expect more cuts to our budget each year for the next three years. Each year, it will get harder because we will be having to cut closer and closer and closer to what we deem absolutely essential services."
The board estimates it can save:
•$368,961 by closing Canso Academy (grades 9 to 12) and busing students to Guysborough Academy.
•$175,411 by closing Rev. H.J. MacDonald (grades Primary to 4) in Heatherton and busing students to St. Andrews Consolidated.
•$411,097 by closing West Richmond Education Centre (grades 5 to 8) in Evanston and having them attend Richmond Academy in Louisdale.
When asked where the board should find the required savings, if not from closing schools, Delorey recommended further cuts to administration.
Parent Alex Willson, a member of the Canso Academy study committee, suggested a middle ground for her school.
She advocates closing Canso Academy and converting Fanning Education Centre, also in Canso, from an elementary to a Primary-to-Grade 12 school, thereby keeping Canso’s students in the community. The school board, which is considering that option, estimates it would create annual savings of $263,273.
"It would save an hour’s bus ride each way to Guysborough for students and help save our community," Willson said.
School board chairwoman Mary Jess MacDonald said school review has been hard on communities and the board.
"It’s a process that I think needs to be changed," said MacDonald.
"It seems to me that instead of people looking at solutions for sustainability, the process pits the board against communities, and that’s something the board doesn’t want and I don’t believe the communities want."
