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Reinventing schools
All over Ontario, declining enrolment has led to threats to close dozens of schools, and the natives are restless: Hamilton, Peterborough, Oakville, and many more communities. Feelings are running high, and there appear to be no easy answers. But there is one possibility that is not being explored.
This option is laid out in our new quick study “Danger - or Opportunity?”. Basically, we are proposing that instead of closing schools with unused space, the school boards find creative ways to keep them open - by, for example, renting out the surplus space to agencies with complementary services or by moving the students to smaller venues like a YMCA or a church. These reinvented schools offer potentially significant benefits - but they would require flexibility and openness to new ideas on the part of their school boards.
Oh well, it seemed like a good idea at the time….....