Students protest after Niagara school board votes to close three high schools

District School Board of Niagara (DSBN) trustees have voted to close three high schools in West Niagara, in favour of one centralized school.

South Lincoln High School will close at the end of the current school year while Grimsby Secondary and Beamsville District schools will remain open until the end of June 2020.

The decision has upset many members of the community. Roughly 50 parents and students at South Lincoln High School staged a walk-out on Wednesday morning. They stood outside the school with signs reading “South Lincoln Matters” and “Our Local Schools Matter.”

“Decisions of this nature are never easy,” said Dale Robinson, DSBN Chair in a news release. “Trustees felt this was the right direction to ensure students receive the best possible program in a first-rate facility. A school with a larger student population will be able to offer students more course options, more athletic opportunities, and more extra-curricular clubs for students to pursue their interests.”

The yet-to-be-named school is dependent on Ministry approval and funding and is slated to open in September, 2020. Students at Beamsville District and Grimsby Secondary will continue to attend their respective schools until the new school is built. South Lincoln students will be transitioned to either Grimsby Secondary or E.L. Crossley in September 2017.

“As a municipality, our preference would be for our schools to remain open,” said Town of Lincoln Mayor Sandra Easton in a press release. “With that said, we are confident in the process that was undertaken through the Accommodation Review and now our focus is to ensure the new school serves our population and that our youth have access to the best education possible at the new site.”

The location for the new school has yet to be determined but the school board says they are committed to finding a location that will be centrally located to ensure it is equally accessible to as many communities as possible.

The DSBN says the decision will help combat the impacts of declining enrolment and reduce 1,100 surplus spaces in the region by September 2020.