It’s been a tough spring for rural schools in the Maritimes, with parents at five schools learning their kids will soon be studying somewhere else.
On Wednesday night a final decision was made to close three schools in central Nova Scotia at the end of the month: Wentworth Consolidated Elementary School, Maitland District Elementary School, and River John Consolidated School.
Students there will be bussed to other locations.
"Kids on one side of the highway go to Pugwash. Kids on the other side go to Oxford,” remarked one resident in reaction to the news.
“They're splitting our community right down the middle.”
Wednesday night also brought bad news for parents at Browns Flat Elementary School in New Brunswick.
Tammy London was among the parents who learned the education department officially approved the closure of their local school.
She says the move couldn’t come at a worse time for their community north of Saint John.
"It's devastating for our community. Our community is actually starting to grow. We've had a large jump in our tax base. We've had new homes being built,” London said.
The New Brunswick government is looking for ways to save money, which has put small, low enrollment schools in the crosshairs for closure.
“I think we have seen the writing on the wall. I don't think they really wanted to hear what we had to say in the first place or paid one bit of attention to it,” said Browns Flat parent Cindy Richards.
Elsewhere in the province, parents of Lorne Middle School students in Saint John are fighting back against the closure of their school
They are taking legal action to stop it, with proceedings scheduled to start on Friday.
“We're getting a lot of support and a lot of other schools that are on the chopping block are very interested to see how this turns out,” said parent Ken Craft.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron
