Councillor wants special meeting to unveil fate of P.E.I. schools

Charlottetown city councillor Mitchell Tweel is asking P.E.I.'sPublic Schools Branch board of directors to hold a special public meeting to put forward its plan for school changes in the province.

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For the past two months, the boardhas been holding a series of public meetings to discuss a report prepared by branch staff recommending the closure of five schools in the province, as well as proposals for rezoning and changing program offerings at some schools, butno final decisions have been made about which schools will be closed.

One of the schools recommended for closure, St. Jean Elementary in Charlottetown, is in Tweel's ward.

"We want to have that opportunity to view first-hand their recommendations and their conclusions, and what their rationale and logic are behind those conclusions," Tweel said.

Those communities should be given two weeks' notice of the meeting, Tweel added.

"I think in all fairness when you look at the last two months, a lot of the communities and home and school associations have worked extremely hard making these presentations and going through the report," he said.

"It's a very short window in order to be able to respond and respond effectively to those recommendations."

No date for public meeting to present school plan

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for P.E.I.'s Department of Education, Early Learning and Culture told CBC News by email the recommendations of the board of directors would be put forward at one of its regular monthly meetings, but no date for that meeting has been set.

The date would be publicized in advance, the spokesperson said.

A meeting that had been scheduled for Monday, Mar. 13, has been cancelled, according to the Public Schools Branch's website. No explanation was provided.

The three-person board of directors of the branch has the final say on issues related to rezoning and school programming, but the final decision on any school closures rests with the provincial cabinet.

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