The Lester B. Pearson School Board held a heated meeting Wednesday night with the future of St. Thomas High School in Pointe-Claire on the agenda.
Board officials took an earful from parents and staff, who are not impressed at proposed plans for the school.
LBPSB chairperson Noel Burke said one option is to move St. Thomas to the better Lindsay Place High School building.
Lindsday Place along with Beurling Academy and Lakeside Academy have enrollments below 45 per cent of their capacities based on a Major School Change study issued in May.
Plans for St. Thomas include either merging it with Lindsay Place, or closing Lindsay Place and moving St. Thomas into the building.
Many parents are against the plan.
"There's a lot of things that we're concerned about," said parent and alumnus Bernie Saab. "We happened to move to the area to be within walking distance of the school, and now the school is picking up and maybe moving."
Teachers showed up at Wednesday's meeting in white "I heart St. T" sweatshirts, and argued staff losses would likely follow a move, as students would be scattered.
"There would be approximately 400 students lost to other schools," said Grade 9 teacher Joanna Schreyer.
The St. Thomas building could also be handed over to the overcrowded Marguerite-Bourgeoys School Board. Burke said that and other rumours are untrue.
"To dispel a myth, we're not closing St. Thomas. The proposal would be to move the school itself to a different and better building," said Burke.
The board plans to hand down a decision in December or January with any changes being implemented in Sept. 2020.
