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Students question possible plan to close Sir Winston Churchill CVI

Joshua Bruyere is not happy at the prospect of finishing his high school studies anywhere other than Sir Winston Churchill Collegiate and Vocational Institute.
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Students depart Tuesday from Sir Winston Churchill Collegiate and Vocational Institute. (Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com)

Joshua Bruyere is not happy at the prospect of finishing his high school studies anywhere other than Sir Winston Churchill Collegiate and Vocational Institute.

But the Grade 9 student knows he might not have a choice, after word broke Monday that Lakehead Public Schools is considering a comprehensive school renewal plan that includes possible closures of two Thunder Bay high schools.

Churchill, which opened in 1967, is on the list, scheduled to be shuttered at the end of the 2016-17 school year under one scenario being presented at Tuesday night’s public school board meeting.

“I would really dislike the closing of this school,” Joshua said after leaving class on Tuesday afternoon. “I don’t like the idea of putting schools together to make super schools, because then people aren’t known around as well.”

As a first-year high-school student, the youngster said he’s happy where he is.

“I really like this school. It has some really good systems and it would be sad if this would happen.”

But reality has set in, he said, adding he’s not holding out hope the school can be saved, even though the plan has yet to be formally presented to school board trustees or the public.  

“It’s very unlikely scenario, considering (the board) would have to end up doing a bunch of stuff they don’t want to do,” Joshua said.
Friend and classmate Russell Frost is equally unhappy about the proposed plan.

A Grade 9 International Baccalaureate student, the 14-year-old is concerned about where he might wind up.

The plan, if executed, calls for Churchill students to move to Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute starting in the fall of 2017, when the teen would be starting Grade 11.

“It kind of sucks,” he said. “There are so many resources here and it’s such a great school.”

It’s a move that Grade 11 student Echo Dumas would not want to make.

“Westgate? I don’t want to go to Westgate,” she said.

The renewal plan could also see a number of elementary schools closed, with Agnew H. Johnston and Edgewater Park merged and a new school built on the Churchill site. On the north side of town, Hammarskjold could be closed and students sent to Superior Collegiate, which opened seven years ago, taking in students from the former Hillcrest High School and Port Arthur Collegiate Institute.

Other options include converting Superior into an elementary school, those students moving to Hammarskjold and the board closing C.D. Howe, St. James and Vance Chapman public schools. A merger of Hyde Park and Kingsway Park public schools is also on the table.

While students aren’t thrilled at the prospect of change, the head of the local branch of the Ontario Secondary School Teacher’s Federation thinks it could be a positive move, especially at the secondary school level. 

Paul Caccamo said consolidating four high schools into two would create a pair of 1,200-student schools that would allows more programs to be offered.

Declining enrolment means something has to be done, he said.

“For my members teaching in schools that have a declining enrolment, it has been challenging to them to maintain the full breadth of programming and extra-curricular activities for students,” Caccamo said. “From an academic sense, you want to be able to offer the kids the programs they need. But as less students exist in a building, it’s more difficult to offer specialized programs.

“The plan the board has for renewal is going to address that problem.”

Caccamo asaid he doesn’t think any teacher’s jobs will be lost, though it’s likely support staff would be affected.



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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