Protesters rally against school closures outside state of the province address

​About 50 protesters upset about proposed school closures gathered in Charlottetown Monday night outside the premier's state of the province address.

Protesters from the host communities of Belfast Consolidated, Georgetown Elementary and St. Jean Elementary schools stood in the cold outside the Delta Prince Edward Hotel, where Premier Wade MacLauchlan was scheduled to give his speech.

The crowd chanted "Save our schools" and carried signs bearing messages like "Our School Our Town Our Future." Some of those signs were recycled from eight years ago when Georgetown successfully resisted another proposed closure, CBC's Kerry Campbell reported from the protest.

• 5 school closures recommended in P.E.I. report on public schools
• Urban-rural divide highlighted over school closure proposals

The schools are three of the five that the P.E.I. Public Schools Branch has recommended closing. Parents and community members across the province are vowing to fight the proposed closures during the 60-day public consultation period, worried that closing the schools will negatively impact their communities.

Education Minister Doug Currie has said the proposed changes — which also include rezoning — will get ​overcrowded schools back to optimal levels and underused schools closer to optimal, all while improving class composition and expanding extracurricular activities.

The premier was expected to touch on education in his speech, which is about the P.E.I. economic blueprint the Liberals have dubbed "The Mighty Island."

"One of the reasons they came here is they heard the premier was going to be talking about the importance of education," Campbell said. 

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS | Health PEI looking at telemedicine as option for Kings County Memorial Hospital emergency room
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS | Prime minister to take bridge toll concerns to Island MPs