News Release
Sloane Urges School Board to "Get Statistics First"
(Wednesday, March 27/2002)-- Councillor Dawn Sloane said today the Halifax Regional School Board should delay any proposed school closures until the detailed 2001 Census figures are available from Statistics Canada.
Councillor Sloane said she plans to raise this issue and others tonight at a meeting of the Parent Review Committee at St. Mary's school on Morris Street in Halifax, beginning at 7 p.m. The large turnout of parents and south end residents are expected to attend.
The Councillor said " These statistics are going to show the tremendous resurgence of people moving back to the downtown area. I've been asking for the School Board to provide me with student population forecast on which they based their decision to close Halifax schools and I don't have it yet. I'm sure the new Census stats will show they shouldn't be closing schools on peninsula Halifax."
Halifax Regional School Board is looking at closing Ecole Beaufort, a French immersion school, and St, Mary's School, both located in the south end; and Joseph Howe School in the north end.
Councillor Sloane said "St. Mary's School has a great reputation for fostering the needs of their students. The school has been a part of the Halifax community for close to 165 years and this is certainly not the time to close it. We've got to have definite population numbers before we start closing these schools, because once they are closed, they are lost for good."
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Councillor Dawn Sloane
(902) 488-4812
