Ministry denies request for review on closure of Harrow District High School

Essex Town Council and the Harrow District High School Working Committee will meet behind closed doors on Monday, January 18 to discuss legal matters related to the Ministry of Education’s denial of the Town’s request for administrative review.

At its October 13th meeting, trustees for the Greater Essex County District School Board voted 5-4 in favour of closing Harrow High at the end of June 2016. In November, Lawyer James Cooke, working on behalf of the Town, filed a formal request for review of the program accommodation review process and the board’s decision. The Town was notified late Monday afternoon of the Ministry’s decision to deny that request.

The Harrow District High School Working Committee met Wednesday night to discuss the Ministry’s response and will seek further direction from Council at Monday night’s closed meeting.

In the interim, the committee is encouraging members of the community to continue to support efforts to bring its concerns to the attention of the board. To that end, two new petitions are circulating in stores and offices located in the Harrow and Essex Centre communities. Signatures are being collected until Monday, January 25th.

“We encourage anyone who is concerned about the loss of Harrow High and the decline in government support for rural education to sign the petitions,” says Essex CAO Russ Phillips.

“It’s quite unfortunate that parents and students at Harrow High will now have to seek secondary school education outside their own community and quite possibly outside their own municipality.”

Phillips says that the committee will continue to advocate for the continuance of JK-to-12 education in Harrow.

When Harrow High closes, the only public-funded secondary school located in the Town of Essex will be Essex District High School. While EDHS has space to accommodate additional students, families would have to provide their own transportation.