Grey and Bruce Counties want Rural School Closures Stopped

Bruce and Grey County councils are joining forces and asking the Ministry of Education to come up with fair guidelines for school accommodation reviews and to halt the closure of rural schools in Ontario. The two councils passed the motion at a joint meeting in Elmwood, Ontario on Thursday November 24.

“The feeling from both councils was that the current accommodation review guidelines don’t work in rural areas. Schools are pivotal to small communities, socially and economically, and that needs to be considered in the accommodation review process,” said Grey County Warden Alan Barfoot.

The motion will be shared with the Premier, the Ministry of Education, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the Bluewater District School Board and local MPs and MPPs. The Bluewater District School Board is currently holding accommodation reviews for schools in both Grey and Bruce counties.

The November 24 meeting was the first joint meeting of council of the current term. At the meeting, the two counties discussed topics of mutual interest such as school accommodation reviews, economic development and tourism, province-wide cycling concepts, and the findings of the Paramedic Services shared services review. Grey Bruce Public Health also updated the councils on some of their current initiatives.

“The meeting was a great opportunity to get together face-to-face with our neighbours to the west and talk about some of the key topics of interest facing our region,” said Warden Barfoot. “Our two counties are each unique, but I believe we can accomplish a lot of great things when we collaborate and work together.”

For more information, contact Rob Hatten, communications officer, at Robert.hatten [at] grey.ca (robert[dot]hatten[at]grey[dot]ca) or 519-372‑0219 ext.1235.

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