Parents at Ottawa schools slated for possible closure continue to oppose plan

Parents of students at a handful of western Ottawa schools slated for closure made arguments against the plan at Tuesday night's Ottawa-Carleton District School Board meeting, just days before the board announces its choices.

• Parents vowing to push back against OCDSB school closure plan

• J.H. Putman Public School students, parents plead to keep it open

OCDSB staffrecommend closingseven elementary and middle schools in Ottawa'swest end, and shuttering one east-end highschool, in what it calls itswestern area accommodation review.

• D. AubreyMoodieIntermediate School.
• GreenbankMiddle School.
• Leslie Park Public School.
• Grant Alternative School.
• CenturyPublic School.
• Regina Street Public School.
• J.H.PutmanPublic School.
• RideauHigh School.

On Friday, the board willpost on its website the names of the schools it wants to close.

Most of the schools on the list are underenrolment capacity, and extra money that helped keep them open by the province is drying up, according to the board.

'The board is not listening'

Board trustees gave parents an hour and a half to voice their concerns Tuesday night. While parents of students at Leslie Park Public and Century Public schools also attended, it was the families connected to J.H.Putmanwho made the most noise.

Gina Bies's son is a student atJ.H.Putman.

"We are communicating that the board is not listening to the needs of the community," she said.

The school is named after the former city education official who, some ninedecades ago,first recommended that Ottawa build schools for intermediate-aged children.Bies acknowledgedthat middle schools may not be the newest idea in education, but said it hasworked for her son and his friends.

"We really want to keep the cohort of [Grade 6, 7 and 8 students]together at Putman because they're learning life skills to get them ready for high school. They won't have to learn it in Grade 9," she said.

Olivia Titus, 13, felt even more strongly.

"I don't want to be in a board that puts their opinions over the concerns of the communitiesand the schools," the Putman student said.

I don't want to be in a board that puts their opinions over the concerns of the communitiesand the schools.- OliviaTitus, J.H. Putman student

If the OCDSB chooses to close her school, she said her parents will put her into a Catholic school.

Gemma Nicholson's son attends Century Public School in Nepean.

Nicholson expressed frustration that the board hadn't translated materials related to the accommodation review process for Century Public's many immigrant parents.

"Some of the parents are not only illiterate in English, they're also illiterate in their own language, so they don't understand any of this. ... So they don't understand the impacts that this is going to have on their children and the board doesn't seem to be acknowledging that this is a problem," said Nicholson.

"So we feel we are being discriminated against because our parents can't stand up like all of these people in here and all join together as a group. Our parents simply won't do that."