The chances that the school in the village of Godbout, on the North Shore, will welcome students at the start of the 2023 school year are “very slim”, according to the director general of the Center de services scolaire de l’Estuaire, who has started the process of closing the establishment.
At the end of the holidays, three students will return to class at the school in the village of Godbout, according to forecasts from the Center de services scolaire de l’Estuaire.
“According to our policy of maintaining or closing establishments, when we are at 15 students or less, we must carry out a detailed analysis, then public consultations, to see with the board of directors, whether or not we maintain the ‘school concerned,’ explained the director general of the Center de services scolaire de l’Estuaire, Nadine Desrosiers.
The citizens of Godbout are invited to participate in a public consultation on September 26, at 7 p.m., in the school gymnasium to present their arguments for keeping the establishment open.
The Center de services scolaire de l’Estuaire puts forward reasons related to the quality of student learning.
“It becomes very difficult with three students, we are no longer able to work at the level of socialization either. We are no longer able to do teamwork,” added Nadine Desrosiers.
The union representing one full-time and one part-time teacher here deplored the employer’s decision.
“Every time we hear about a school closing procedure, union members are never happy, because we often talk about job cuts. In the context of the labor shortage, we know that the teachers who will be affected will be relocated. It’s never fun to see a school close. Often the school is the heart of the village. It’s a bit sad to learn of this procedure,” sighed the president of the Haute-Côte-Nord teaching union, Rémi Therriault.
Another reason behind the possible closure of the village school; maintenance work to be done in the coming years, estimated at nearly $1.75 million.
“We manage public funds. Do we put works worth more than a million dollars on a school where there are three students left? It becomes an element of analysis, but the decision will be made on educational services, ”said Nadine Desrosiers.
Not the first threat of closure of the Godbout school
The last time Monseigneur Labrie school was threatened with closure, the citizens of the village mobilized and the Estuaire School Board reversed its decision in 2013.
Except that this time, the situation is different, according to the director general of the Center de services scolaire de l’Estuaire.
“It may be that elements come to convince us. But the administrators, it’s not for nothing that they initiate this procedure. The chances are very slim,” said Nadine Desrosiers, arguing that there were more students at the Godbout school in 2013.
The Center de services scolaire de l’Estuaire will have until the end of March 2023 to decide if the students are in their last school year in their village.