News Release

Sloane Says Parents May Consider Court Injunction

(Monday, February 25/2002)-- Councillor Dawn Sloane said parents of students attending Joseph Howe School in central Halifax will meet in a last-ditch effort tonight to try to stop the planned closure of their neighbourhood school next year.

Councillor Sloane said "desperate times call, for desperate measures" and the parents association might even consider seeking a Court Injunction against the Halifax Regional School Board to prevent, or at least further delay, the proposed closure.

The Councillor said that both she and the parents are still waiting for the School Board to provide them with the projected future student enrolment forecast and other research data related to its intention to close one or both of the two urban high schools, as well as several elementary or middle schools that feed the senior schools.

Joseph Howe School in central Halifax and St. Mary's School in the south end are the two latest schools being mentioned as possible closures next year. There is speculation the School Board may announce the decision to close these schools and St. Patrick's High School at its regular meeting tomorrow evening (Tuesday, February 26th).

Councillor Sloane said "If the School Board cannot, or will not, provide us with the figures on which it is basing its decision to close our schools, then maybe we should be going to the Courts to stop them. We've tried to be nice about things, but the Board just seems to be ignoring us."

The Councillor challenged the School Board some time ago to study the demographics of peninsula Halifax and weigh them against the amount of new housing developments that are in progress, or being planned, before moving too quickly on additional school closures or consolidating Halifax's two high schools.

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Dawn Marie Sloane
District 12 Councillor
Halifax - Downtown
Halifax Regional Municipality
(902) 490-4752 Cell:(902) 488-4812