It's not the solution a large portion of the population of Owen Sound wanted to hear.
Owen Sound Council received a legal opinion that they don't have the grounds to review and, it was hoped, reverse a Bluewater District School Board decision.
The board has voted to amalgamate OSCVI with West Hill as of this fall. OSCVI will become an elementary school.
Students, alumni and local residents packed a special meeting of Owen Sound council on the issue. They say the board may have adhered to the letter of the law according to provincial guidelines when they conducted the accommodation review, but did not adequately listen to community concerns.
Councillor Richard Thomas says they tried to get the board to slow down the process, without success.
"We sent a resolution to the board asking them to put the brakes on, we sent a resolution to the minister of education asking her to intervene and put the brakes on and Bluewater blundered ahead doing its own thing," says an angry Thomas.
Student Mitch Hendry says they'll try to appeal the board decision and are not about to give up.
"What else can we do, we can either sit down and say we did our best or we can just keep going til the end. Onward, forward, fighting to the end that's a line in the school song and we're going to do it," says Hendry.
Owen Sound council passed a motion to ask for an urgent meeting with the minister of education.
Mayor Ian Boddy says council will back the students and alumni any way they can to save OSCVI.
