THUNDER BAY – Public school board administration is recommending Hammarskjold High School remain open with Superior Collegiate and Vocational Institute repurposed as an elementary school.
That recommendation is part of a final staff report for the school renewal plan which will be presented to Lakehead Public School Board trustees at a meeting which is scheduled for Thursday night.
Administration had previously presented two north side options, which would see a high school close in June 2017 and elementary school students amalgamated in September 2018.
The first would close Hammarskjold, leaving Superior as the lone north side high school. As well, an expansion would be built on Vance Chapman Public School, allowing the board to close St. James and C.D. Howe public schools.
The second, which is being recommended, would close Vance Chapman, St. James and C.D. Howe with all of those students attending Superior, opened seven years ago at a cost of $32.8 million, as an elementary school. Under this scenario, Hammarskjold would remain as the only north side public secondary school.
The south side option of closing Sir Winston Churchill Collegiate and Vocational Institute, with those students attending Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute, and building a new elementary school on the Churchill site to allow for the closures of Edgewater Park and Agnew H. Johnston public schools remains recommended.
The board first publicly presented the renewal plan in February, proposing shuttering a number of schools on both sides of the city.
Administration said the closures will be necessary as a result of declining student enrollment and the elimination of a provincial government grant that provided additional funding for under capacity schools.
Superior and Hammarskjold are built to hold a combined 2,2500 students but the board forecasts having only 1,200 north side high school students by 2020. It’s a similar story on the south side where Churchill and Westgate have a combined capacity of 2,100 students, though there are only expected to be around 1,200 students by 2020.
In addition, administration also said closing some buildings and increasing the population in the remaining schools would provide additional academic and extracurricular opportunities for students.
“Anytime in a secondary school your enrolment goes below about 800 you’re not able to offer the options that a lot of students need that might be somewhat specialized. When you do have that critical mass, you’re able to offer those programs with a minimal number of conflicts in their individual timetables,” board director of education Ian MacRae said in February.
Even though the report will be presented on Thursday night, trustees won’t make a final decision until October.
