Parents fight possible Edmonton school closures

Parents whose children go one of several Edmonton schools under review by the public school board says closing the doors is not an option.

About 150 people packed into a tiny gymnasium Tuesday night to talk about the future of Coronation School in North Glenora.

The school has 127 children enrolled this year and parents and nearby residents are bent on keeping it open.

"This is a neighbourhood that is in transition. There are a lot of people moving into the neighbourhood, a lot of renovations going on, homes being built," said Sheila Bilodeau.

"And we believe over the next few years our school is going to see a real growth in the number of school aged children."

Closure one option

Thepublic school boardpicked the schoolsbased on criteria such as enrolment levels, neighbourhood demographics, use of space and how many other schools were nearby.

Jenise Bidulock, who is headingthe review, said her group could recommend adding more programs to the schools, better marketing orclosure.

"What we've done is to have a much closer look at the attendance,"she said.

"The other part of the decision obviously will be input from the public and communities."

Under review are: Coronation, Grovenor, High Park, Lendrum, Montrose, Mount Royal, Newton, Mount Pleasant andMill Creek/Ritchie,which share a principal but have two campuses.

Recommendations on allthe schools will be made to the school board in January.