St. Gabriel School to stay open, 3 other Catholic schools to close

Image | Catholic school board

Caption: Trustees discussed the school closures in front of a meeting room packed full of parents. (Laura Osman/CBC News)

Edmonton Catholic school trustees have decided to keep St. Gabriel Elementary School open and close three other aging schools in east Edmonton.
Trustees voted 5-2 to keep St. Gabriel open. But St. Brendan, St. James and St. Kevin Junior High School will close.
The board wanted to shutter all four schools and send students to a new “mega-school" that would be built on the St. Brendan site.
After voting to move forward in March, the board held consultations on how the closures would affect communities.
The St.Gabriel's parent council lobbied to keep the school to open.
The closures won't take effect for another two to three years until the new mega-school is built. The original plan was to build a $25 million school. However that may be revised now that students from three, not four, schools will be sent there.