THUNDER BAY -- Lakehead Public Schools director of education Ian MacRae says despite what mayoralty candidate Shane Judge says, his board has not had any discussions about closing another high school.
During Wednesday night’s mayoral debate, Judge said a trustee had told him the process to close a high school would begin immediately following the election.
MacRae said he didn’t hear Judge’s comment first-hand.
“But certainly there has never been any discussion with trustees around a school closure at any time in the near future, nor in the distant future,” MacRae said.
“We’re simply not there and it’s not on our radar screen. We believe that we’ve reached a stable enrolment pattern and in fact our early projects indicated a slight increase over projections from last year. So I don’t know where the information came from.”
The Thunder Bay Catholic District Board was also contacted for comment, but did not immediately respond to an interview request.
The numbers show Hammarskjold High School as the least populated school on either board, with just 64 per cent enrolment according to figures obtained this past spring.
Superior Collegiate, at 758 students, has the lowest enrolment number, but is 79 per cent to capacity. In contrast St. Ignatius, under the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board banner, is at 91 per cent of capacity.
MacRae said the public board is happy with its overall enrolment, which was projected to be down about 300 students over 2013-14.
“We believe we’ve got a balance, with two on each side of the city and for the foreseeable future we believe they’re viable schools and we believe we’re in line with the provincial capacity, which is around 81 per cent. We’re about 76 per cent, so we’re close.”
Ontario Secondary School Teacher Federation representative Paul Caccamo told CKPR Radio the union is not concerned and does not expect any imminent school closures to take place.
Caccamo added he can’t see what the future holds, but their goal is to maximize existing space.
The public board has closed three high schools in the past decade, Fort William Collegiate Institute, Port Arthur Collegiate Institute and most recently Hillcrest High School.
