Campbell River school board closing 2 schools

The Campbell River School District met twice this week and each time voted to close a school.

Discovery Passage Elementary School was the first school the districtvoted to close.The following night, the board alsovoted to closeOyster River Elementary School.

Susan Wilson, the chair of the Campbell River School District, said enrolment at the schools hasbeen declining "quite dramatically" over the past 14 to 15 years and the schools werein need of significant repairs.

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"Because of the cutbacks in funding and the fact that there are fewer students, and therefore, less associated funding, it is a matter of looking at maintenance and operation of the facilities as well as providing a balanced budget," she told On The Island host Gregor Craigie.

Wilson says closing the schools will save the district over $900,000 per year; "It will almost cover the costs the ministry is downloading onto the district," she said.

Wilson says both schools were only at about half capacity with fewer than 70 students each. Still, she says the move has left parents "sad and disappointed."

"They care for their schools with a great passion and they care about their children's education. As does the board," she said.

Wilson says the fate of the schools is unknown because they are in varying conditionsand are in different areas of the city, so their future purposewill be affected by those factors.

With files from On The Island

To hear the full story, click the audio labelled:Two school boardmeetings, two school closures in Campbell River