Bruce Grey Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker has issued an open letter asking the education minister to issue an immediate moratorium on school closures.
Walker says rural and northern communities could become ghost towns as school closures impact local economies.
“If the success of our children at school hinges on the health and well-being of the communities in which they live, then what do the mass school closures mean for the future of these rural and Northern Ontario communities?” he wrote.
Walker says the Accommodation Review guidelines don't recognize or quantify the economic risk factors.
He says the future of rural communities is at stake, and Minister Mitzie Hunter needs to change the guidelines to look at community impact.
“The removal of the Community Impact requirement is indicative of your government’s lack of concern of the impact of your directive," he added. "It is a wrong and perilous move, and it’s why we are standing with the concerned citizens to call on you to bring in a moratorium on closures until you have fixed the guidelines.”
He says residents want to work with the government to see schools evolve into community hubs.
“Your response of 'Solutions will not be found at Queen’s Park,' only perpetuates these broad challenges… and is also in direct opposition to the premier’s stated promise to apply open government principles to problem solving," he wrote.
“Our schools are really a community centre and a catalyst for learning beyond just the walls of a facility. They have the potential to become excellent community hubs, an idea championed by you and your government… People in my communities of Bruce and Grey have asked me to appeal to you once again to not abandon our communities, but to work on finding solutions that would allow them to evolve as community hubs -- or, in the words of the premier, to 'remove barriers, and provide the tools and information they need to innovate and meet evolving community needs.'"
“I believe you want to support this statement,” MPP Walker challenged the minister in his letter. “So, no more excuses, minister. The concerned communities are calling on you to show leadership and heed their call for a moratorium on school closures until you have reviewed and fixed the arbitrary school accommodation review guidelines.”
