ARC recommends Near North District School Board close Chippewa

The Near North District School Board’s Accommodation Review Committee is recommending trustees close Chippewa Secondary School.

The facilitator of the ARC, Paul Addie, says there wasn’t much support to close West Ferris Secondary School, because it’s the only high school in the south end of the city, while the other two others are fairly close together.

Addie says there was a lot of concern about traffic if they went with with the Chippewa option.

But, that wasn’t the only reason the ARC members went with Widdifield as the second school.

He says Chippewa is also older than Widdifield.

Resident Rebecca Gauvreau says it didn’t matter to her which school (Widdifield or Chippewa) is kept open as long as West Ferris is because it’s the only secondary school in that part of the city.

“What was important to me is that there is choice, so there is a school at the north end and a school at the south end, and I’m really pleased about that,” she says.

Addie says the board could support their choice either to repair two schools or rebuild both or go back to the one larger school option.

“I can’t speak for the board, but they get to choose.  But they may go back and say ‘you know what, we think the best option is the 3 to 1’ and they may ignore the ARC,” he says.

They are recommending the extended French Immersion program and the International Baccalaureate program at Chippewa to go to West Ferris, which would mean each school has over 1,000 students, with a few more at Widdifield.

The ARC recommendation goes to the trustees next month.

There will be a public meeting on June 12th, with the final decision to be made on June 27th.

The ARC is also recommending E.T.Carmichael, E.W. Norman and W.J. Fricker be closed with a new build at the Fricker site.