Trustees to vote on closure of 11 schools

The fate of 11 Island schools could be decided Friday evening as Eastern School District trustees gather to debate and vote on proposed school closures.

Trustees will hold a special meeting at Morell RegionalHigh School in Morell at 7 p.m. Members of the public are invited to attend.

District superintendent Sandy MacDonald said trustees are well-versed on the issues affecting each of the schools slated for possible closure, having had eight public meetings on the issue. Trustees have also received roughly 700 pieces of mail, more than 100 phone calls and viewed dozens of presentations, he said.

"I know the trustees have really looked at this critically. So, I won't be surprised at all to see some of the schools stay open," said MacDonald.

Spanning from Crapaud to East Point, the district includes roughly 13,000 students at 43 schools, according to the district's website. The closures recommended to deal with declining enrolments become more numerous in the eastern portions of the district.

Each school closure will be debated separately, and then a show of hands will decide that school's fate.

Final decision rests with cabinet

MacDonald won't say which schools he thinks might avoid being closed, but added Georgetown Elementary and Parkdale Elementary were the two schools he had the hardest time adding to his list of 11.

While the trustees will vote on which schools to close, the final decision rests with the provincial cabinet.

MacDonald says he's not expecting the province to rubber stamp the school board's recommendations.

"I expect the cabinet to look at this with a critical eye just the same as the trustees are looking at it with a critical eye," he said.

The list of recommended school closures, along with the reasons why, will be forwarded to the province before next week's cabinet meeting.

It's not clear when cabinet will vote on the school closures.

Check cbc.ca/pei later Friday to see the results of the vote.