By the end of the next school year, one high school and three elementary schools in Owen Sound will be closed.
An elementary school just outside the city will also be shut as part of the Bluewater District School Board’s overhaul of school boundaries in the area.
The decision was reached Tuesday night by school board trustees.
The biggest change approved by trustees is the closure of Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute at the end of the current school year.
Students currently attending that school will be moved to West Hill Secondary School, while the school itself will be transformed into an elementary school in time for the 2017-18 school year.
Bayview Public School, Sydenham Community School and Dufferin Elementary School will all close at the end of the 2016-17 school year.
Students currently attending Bayview and Sydenham will be sent to the renovated Owen Sound CVI, while students from Dufferin will be moved to two other elementary schools in the city.
Also slated for closure is Derby Public School, which is located southwest of Owen Sound on Grey Road 5.
Starting this September, students attending Derby will instead be sent to either schools in Hepworth, Tara or Owen Sound.
In a statement, school board chair Ron Motz said that he hoped the closing schools’ “unique histories” would be preserved by their students and families.
“We hope that families and the community will join us in embracing these changes and the many positive program and learning opportunities that they will generate for our students for years to come,” he said.
While no specific plans for new schools in the area have been approved, the school board is preparing to request the province to fund a new high school and elementary school for Owen Sound at some point in the future.
According to the school board, Owen Sound’s schools are currently nearly 1,500 students below their capacities, which without action was expected to cost the school board nearly $350,000 next year.
