Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board votes to close schools

The Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board voted to close 17 schools at a meeting Tuesday evening. 

In total, 19 schools faced the axe. Only John Bernard Croak V.C. Memorial and Whitney Pier Memorial Middle School will stay open. 

Some of the closures take effect in September, while others won't shut until 2021. The board posted full details of when schools are closing and where the students will go on its website. 

Board superintendent Beth MacIsaac told the 500 people who attended the meeting that the decisions were tough but needed. 

"We've had a 46 per cent decline in our enrolments since amalgamation. Most of our schools have an excess capacity of 40 per cent," she said. 

The board also recommended building new schools in North Sydney and Glace Bay. The province will ultimately make those decisions. 

The school board has grouped its schools into "families," based on location.

Here are all the schools the board voted to close, grouped by family:

Five are in the Northside family:

• Florence Elementary
• St. Joseph's Elementary
• Seton Elementary
• Sydney Mines Middle School
• Thompson Middle School                                         

Two in the New Waterford family:

• Mount Carmel Elementary
• St. Agnes Elementary

In the Riverview family, there were three schools:

• East Bay School
• MacLennan Middle School
• George D. Lewis School

Three schools in the Sydney family:

• Mira Road Elementary
• Sherwood Park Education Centre
• Harbourside Elementary

Four schools in the Glace Bay family:

• MacDonald Elementary
• Tompkins Elementary
• Gowrie Memorial
• Bridgeport School

Chairman Lorne Green said the new schools were a long way off.

"I would like to say, yes, we're building them tomorrow, but it's the ask. We're going to ask the provincial government for the new construction for the Northside and Glace Bay," he said.

"The Northside in particular, they have one middle school, so this is an opportunity for them to have two and they do have the population over there to support two middle schools."

Shauna Ratchford chaired the Sydney Family of Schools. 

"The disappointment of losing a really great, nice middle school in Sherwood Park. I really think it was a great facility. It was designed for a middle school, but what can we do? Let's have faith in the process," she said.