A special meeting of Tri-County Regional School Board rejected the proposal by a vote of eight to two, but the board did decide to review Clark’s Harbour Elementary and Cape Sable Island Elementary schools with the possible end result of amalgamation.
A recommendation to begin the review process of Westport Elementary, which could have led to closure—was included in a school utilization report prepared by consultant Jim Gunn.
“Westport has been talked about several times in the last 20 years,” said school board member Donna Tidd.
The utilization report noted the low enrollment at the Westport school and Tidd said the consultant felt there might be a safety issue with just two teachers for 11 students.
A review process takes a year to complete and is done by the school advisory council and school board. Once the board comes to a decision on whether to close a school, it is another full year before the school can be closed.
Gunn’s school utilization study also suggested replacing Islands Consolidated School with a new school, and perhaps closing Digby Neck and Westport to have all students under one roof.
“If at some point there was going to be a new school—we’re talking years before it would ever happen—it wouldn’t be within the next five years, I wouldn’t think,” Tidd said.
The school utilization study was done because the school board felt it was time. Jim Gunn was brought in as the consultant to see if there were areas the board could possibly save money through and is not done on a regular basis, she said.
“Our staff is always looking at all of our buildings so they would know what needs to be done at any school at anytime,” Tidd said.
