Future of Landsdowne School at heart of final board accommodation meeting

The future of another English public school in Sudbury was up for discussion last night as the Rainbow District School Board held its final accommodation review meeting.

Monday night's meeting was to discuss the possible closure of Lansdowne Public School in the Donovan to make way for a larger school on the current site of Queen Elizabeth School in the Flour Mill neighbourhood.

The board needs $3.6 million in savings for the 2017 budget and has proposed consolidating or closing a dozen schools, some of which are older and not able to accommodate current facility needs.

Then school building on the corner of Lansdowne Street and Frood Road is 87 years old.

The history of Landsdowne Public is precisely why some parents chose to enroll their kids there, said Jesse Brady, whose two children attend the school. He is also a graduate of Lansdowne.

"I like the fact that we have some of these edifices that have been around...something that I've gone to, that families could have gone to for awhile," Brady said. 

"I think that's important in a lot of ways to have a strong connection to our communities rather than a new building and new parts that we don't have a connection to."

Rebecca Coughlin, whose twin daughters are in Grade 1 at Landsdowne, said the school remains part of the fabric of the neighbourhood, and made it a desirable area to move into.

Coughlin said she and her husband chose that neighbourhood so their children would be able to walk to school.

"This is not about how much my kids love their school because all kids love their schools," Coughlin said, "but I think that looking at the numbers there are problems and there must be ways, I think, to repurpose spaces, to lease spaces, to partner, in order to save these buildings."

Board staff will now go through feedback from all six meetings to compile the final report.

That will be presented at a special board meeting November 24, with the board's final decision expected February 7, 2017.

Morning North8:10Rainbow School Board's final accommodation review meeting

Lansdowne Public School in Sudbury may be 87-years old, but parents and students want it to stay open. It's one of the schools on the chopping block by the Rainbow District School Board. It was discussed at the board's last accommodation review meeting.