Parents in the Laurentians are worried about cuts at three English schools that are losing their librarians as of the next school year.
Parents attended a Sir Wilfrid Laurier school board meeting on Wednesday evening to voice their concerns about the effect that the staffing cuts will have on literacy.
The positions will be eliminated at Grenville, St. Adele and Arundel elementary schools as part of a five-year board plan to dig itself out of a $5 million deficit.
Enrollment is actually growing but the board's director, Anne-Marie Lepage, says the board has become a victim of its own success.
"Our growth has made us fiscally more heavy in terms of the number of buildings, the number of staff," Lepage told CTV News.
"Throughout the past years we've had to add to our structure in order to service the new students that we have."
Parents fear more cuts
Parents say they can't help feeling that this is the first of more cuts to come.
"When you're in smaller areas you need everything you have," said parent Andre Sproulo.
"They've been bragging for the last few years that we're putting money in the library and helping to educate the kids, and literacy...now they're cutting our librarian."
The school board says it is committed to maintaining the small schools, which have fewer than 120 students each.
