THUNDER BAY – Facing declining enrolment, the public school board is looking at options that include closing schools.
At a board meeting Tuesday night, the Lakehead Public School Board will receive a presentation on their school renewal plan, which includes a number of options for closing and amalgamating schools.
The options include the closure of Sir Winston Churchill and Collegiate and Vocational Institute following the 2016-2017 school year and moving students to Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute. Churchill is currently operating at 77.5 per cent capacity but is forecasted to drop to 56.7 per cent in 2020.
The report said the Westgate building is in better condition than the Churchill building, with Westgate requiring two existing classrooms be modified to a science lab and technology lab and some renovations on internal and external common areas. The International Baccalaureate program would move to Westgate and Grades 7 and 8 students that could have gone to Churchill would stay at their home schools.
That option would save $6.1 million in school renewal costs as well as $525,000 in savings in annual operating deficits.
Other south side options include closing Agnew H. Johnston Public School and Edgewater Park School and building a new elementary school on the Churchill site, which would open for the 2018-2019 school year. The consolidation of Hyde Park Public School and Kingsway Park Public School into one building will also be considered.
There are two distinct north side options.
The first would see the closure of Hammarskjold High School with students moved to an expanded Superior Collegiate and Vocational Institute. That relocation would require 14 to 16 classrooms and the construction of an addition to Superior.
Currently, the operating costs of Hammarskjold exceed funding by $700,000. At 759.25 full-time equivalent students, Hammarskjold's enrollment has sharply declined from 1,137.25 in 2010-2011, currently at 58.8 per cent capacity.
That first option would also include the closure of C.D. Howe Public School and St. James Public School, with those students moved to Vance Chapman Public School.
The second option would see Superior transitioned into an elementary school, with high school students moving to Hammarskjold. The board would then close C.D. Howe, St. James and Vance Chapman with Superior receiving students from all three schools.
The high school enrolment at Superior, which opened in 2009 with a total construction cost of $32.8 million, is projected to plummet from 66.8 per cent to 51 per cent within the next five years. The school had an enrolment of 638.75 full-time equivalent students as of Oct. 31, 2015.
C.D. Howe is forecasted to be running at below 40 per cent capacity by 2020 with St. James and Vance Chapman both at or below 60 per cent.
Keeping all four high schools open would result in projected annual deficits of $1.7 million.
