Save schools

It’s relatively easy to close schools. It’s much more difficult to get them back should circumstances change down the road.
That’s a conundrum Rainy River District may face one day as more and more schools are allowed to fall by the wayside.
Fort Frances, for instance, is now down to just four elementary schools (Robert Moore and J.W. Walker for the public board and St. Michael’s and St. Francis under the Northwest Catholic School Board). Out in the district, meanwhile, the future of Donald Young in Emo, Sturgeon Creek in Barwick, and Crossroads in Devlin sit in limbo as the Rainy River District School Board grapples with whether to keep all three open, or two, or perhaps just one.
There’s no question district schools have been hit by declining enrolment, coupled with the fact several have been deemed “prohibitive to repair.” But what happens if the forest industry turns around or an anticipated mining boom comes to fruition, bringing new families to the area?
With Alexander MacKenzie already razed here and Huffman soon to follow suit, and Sixth Street School sold, where will we put the influx of students?
Portables surely aren’t the answer.
The problem is that the province funds schools based on projected enrolment given current trends, not what the future might bring. So we sit and watch as our schools close one by one when someday—hopefully soon—we’ll be in need of more.
Pleas to save schools ultimately may fall on deaf ears, but it’s important not to simply accept what may seem inevitable. Make your voice heard whenever school closures are floated and fight against what seems to be the easy route in the short term.
Schools, after all, aren’t just for the present but the future, too. Yet that’s not the case if they’re gone.