Pleading with school board trustees to vote against closing school

Dear Editor;
I was in attendance at the Rainy River District School Board (RRDSB) committee of the whole meeting regarding accommodation review and left the meeting with feelings of disgust and sadness.
It pains me to think that the senior administration of the RRDSB is even considering closing our district’s best school (highest EQAO results in the board, high level of parental and staff involvement and high level of student success and satisfaction) with a recommendation of the closure of Sturgeon Creek School (SCS) north of Barwick.
The closure of SCS (along with Crossroads school) would bring an annual net financial gain of under $50,000 to the RRDSB. Why would they be willing to adversely affect countless students, their families and their communities for a measly $50,000?
There are a plethora of alternative cost savings measures that could be employed by the RRDSB (eg addressing why our board has two superintendents of education, cutting senior adminstration’s salaries, not funding SCAP, leaving preschool education as parent’s responsibility) that could easily make up the paltry annual amount of $50,000.
SCS should be considered one of our board’s most valuable assets and the trustees and administration of the RRDSB should be taking great strides to keep it in place and actually using it as a model for the board’s other schools. What an injustice to our children it would be to see this school close.
I am pleading to the trustees of the RRDSB to use their common sense, intelligence, compassion and high regard for education to vote against the closure of SCS.
–Sincerely,
June Bonot,
Stratton