Rainbow Board trustee pushes motion to halt accommodation reviews

Morning North8:16Putting a halt on the Rainbow District School Board's accommodation review

English public school trustee Larry Killens is trying to stop the Rainbow School Board's accommodation review on the closure or consolidation of 12 schools. He wants to see if the provincial government can find money to re-invest in rural schools.Accommodation reviews that would see the closure or consolidation of 12 schools in the the Sudbury area will be temporarily stopped, if a trustee from the Rainbow District School Board has his way.

On Tuesday, Larry Killens, trustee for Manitoulin area, will be putting forward the motion to suspend the reviews until the provincial government decides if it can restore funding to rural schools.

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Earlier this year, the Wynne government eliminated top-up funding for rural communities, which Killens said contributes to the erosion of smaller communities.

"[Closing schools] definitely deals a fatal blow to those communities, and we're hearing that loud and clear from the various groups that are presenting to our accommodation review and also from the businesses,' Killens said.

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"People buy their homes in close proximity to schools. They plan their lives around the school community."

Killens said his motion was inspired by MPP Steve Clark's letter to the Minister of Education, which asked the government to suspend accommodation reviews until rural schools receive more funding.

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