P.E.I. will not close schools

Despite drops of enrolment of more than 40 per cent in some schools, the P.E.I. government will keep its longstanding promise of not closing any, says Education Minister Mildred Dover.

'The premier's position on this has been clear all along.' — Education Minister Mildred Dover

A report released Monday by the Eastern School District showed an overall drop in enrolment of 10 per cent from 2001 to 2006. Enrolment in earlier grades is down even more, more than 20 per cent from Grade 1 to Grade 3.

"The premier's position on this has been clear all along," said Dover about closing schools.

"He has said that he will talk to people who want to talk to him about it, but at the present time, that is the policy that the government is operating under."

The district's report shows alarming trends at some schools. The smallest in the district is Grand Tracadie Elementary, where enrolment has fallen 26 per cent in the last five years, to just 40.

Only three schools in the district show significantly increased enrolment: Colonel Gray High School, Stonepark Intermediate, and West Kent Elementary. The Eastern School District believes even those schools will see a decline in the next five years.

Disappointment in Stratford

In response to the district-wide drop in enrolment, the school board has put a hold on any new capital projects. That dashes the hopes of parents in Stratford, who have been lobbying for a new junior high.

"The disappointing part of it is it takes a group of parents to do the work that a school board should have really been doing in the first place," said Carlos Lourenso, co-chair of a committee lobbying for the new school.

"In the end it just is quite political and really the same as it's always been, and that is, kind of protect certain areas where the trustees come from and ignore the obvious facts, and just proceed the way it's always been going."

The district's hold on new capital does not include projects already approved, such as a $1.5-million gymnasium for Tracadie Cross, a school in the education minister's district. Tracadie Cross has seen enrolment drop from 123 to 84 in the last five years.