Bluewater District School Board trustees are proceeding with a plan that will see Owen Sound with just one public high school.
Trustees accepted staff accommodation review recommendations to convert OSCVI to an elementary school and all high school students would go to West Hill, effective this September.
Board Chair Ron Motz says the board has little choice considering declining enrollment. He realizes many people have an emotional attachment to OSCVI as a high school, but the board has to move forward.
"We're talking about the future of a community. We're talking about saving the ties to the past but not being tied to the past," says Motz.
Owen Sound's Marg Gaviller was the only trustee to vote against the recommendation to consolidate the high schools. She believes converting both to Grades 7 to 12 is a better idea.
Other staff recommendations accepted by the board include closing Derby Public School this June. Bayview, Sydenham and Dufferin Elementary schools will close June 2017.
Also, the board will apply to the province for funding for a new high school and a new elementary school.
The decisions on the accommodation review were made by the Bluewater Board's committee of the whole. The measures still have to be made official at a regular board meeting.
They are on the agenda at the meeting scheduled for next Tuesday, April 19.
