Trying to save Harrow High

by Ashley Ann Mentley

 

Some local parents have proposed a plan that involves closing three schools in an attempt to keep Harrow District High School open.

On Oct. 13, the Greater Essex County District School Board voted 5-4 to close the school originally built in 1939.  According to protocol, those in opposition have a 30-day window to appeal the decision.

“We now have 23 days to reverse this,” said Harrow resident Bryan Meyer at an Oct. 20 meeting of residents and parents.

This is the fifth time that closing the high school has been debated over the past 30 years. Meyer said he has always been fighting to keep it open, but it is now time to hand it over to the younger generation.

His daughter Rebecca Robinson and local business owner Bill Parr gave the presentation this time.  Parr said he wants to help keep Harrow youthful, lively and able to expand, and having a high school in the town centre is necessary for this to happen.

Their proposal, which he said he knew might upset some people, is to consolidate Harrow District High School, Harrow Public School, Colchester North Public School and Malden Central Public School.

“Our goal was to try and move emotion out of our presentation and look at the factual numbers,” Parr said.

Parr and Robinson explained that the school board views and evaluates schools based on “empty seats.”  Last year, Harrow High had 254 students, but approximately 485 empty seats.  The other three schools also have high numbers of empty seats, all operating at less than 90 per cent capacity.  Parr said this means they will also eventually be on the chopping block.

Meyer said the first thing they need to do is get trustees to listen to their plan and while this is certainly not the only available alternative, it is at least one option to keep the school open.  The proposal states that when comparing costs of relocating Harrow students to Kingsville versus consolidating the four schools, the plan for consolidation would be significantly more affordable for the board.  It will also solve the problem of too many empty seats and allow Harrow to keep a high school within its town centre.

“Protests don’t work,” Meyer said. “We need to approach this on a professional basis.”

Both Robinson and Parr agreed and said it will take a great deal of community support for this initiative to be successful.

“We need one communication with one voice, moving in the same direction,” Robinson said.

The next school board meeting is Nov. 3 and they hope to be given enough time in front of the trustees to explain their proposal and save their school.