Whitbourne Elementary closure battle not over yet, parents vow to keep fighting

Just weeks after celebrating a victory in court, parents of students at Whitbourne Elementary are feeling blindsided by a renewed effort to close the school by the English School District.

On Monday, the district sent parents an email saying the Board of Trustees would be again tabling a notice of motion to close the school in June 2017, despite the fact that parents won a court challenge on July 29 to keep it open.

• Vote to close Whitbourne Elementary quashed by judge
• Whitbourne Elementary parents fighting school closure in court

That court ruling means the school will still be open for classes this September, but parents will now have to keep the fight going if they want students to continue going to the school next year.

Parent Paulette Ralph has two children currently enrolled in the school and another child to start Kindergarten in 2017, which is something she worries won't happen if parents don't continue to stand up.

"No one is willing to give up. We're still willing to fight and we're going to try to prove to them again that Whitbourne Elementary should remain open," she told CBC on Monday.

"It's worth it. It's worth every minute of effort and every penny that we might have to spend."

In shock

The email sent to parents said the Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, where a new motion to close Whitbourne Elementary and send students to Woodland Elementary will be tabled.

Ralph says the whole experience has been a roller coaster of emotions for parents like herself, after celebrating just weeks ago to now hearing the board plans to push for the closure again. She said parents won't be giving up as they still feel Whitbourne Elementary is still a viable school and don't see any plausible reason why it should close.

In February, CBC reported that the elementary school had 83 students. The school district has proposed sending them to Woodland Elementary in Dildo, which has 185 students, a bus ride parents say would be 55 minutes for some children. 

"It almost felt a bit too good to be true, even from the beginning. We were finally starting to accept that school was going to re-open in September and starting to really feel the joy of that, and now we've all been brought right back down," said Ralph.

"It's wearing on us a bit, but the general consensus I'm getting from other parents is we've got more fight in us than ever."