Giscome Elementary to shut its doors following SD57’s decision

School District 57 Trustees unanimously voted to close Giscome Elementary School after yesterday’s (Tuesday) virtual meeting.

This comes as the school has been seeing a decline in student enrollment, with 10 this year, and the School District anticipating 4 to 7 next year.

Superintendent Jameel Aziz said both parents and the School District felt the quality of programming didn’t meet student needs.

“We heard from some parents who told us that they didn’t want their child anymore in multi-graded classrooms, that their children were looking to be with students of their own age, to have peer group experiences, to have the ability to play some school sports, or participate in a variety of activities.”

Aziz added that they felt this was confirmation that the decision to close the school program was the appropriate decision.

Now that the decision has been made, the School District will reach out to families for next years plan, and have meetings with the Regional District about the building’s future.

The School District was projected to have anywhere from $300,000 to $600,000 in surplus in its draft budget, which Aziz said the closure puts them closer to the higher end mark, opening up $175,000.

He noted that discussions like these are a lot more passionate and challenging to make, typically due to financials, but the decision was focused on the programming, which the community and School District felt was lacking.

Board Chair Craig Brennan said “School closure decisions are one of the most difficult
decisions a Board of Education makes.

“The Board thanks the Giscome school community for their patience and input during this process. Our focus now turns to supporting the school community over the next few months as they prepare for the school closure and transition for the fall of 2025.”

The closure is set for June 30th, and the Giscome Elementary School catchment area will be included in the Blackburn Elementary School catchment next school year.