As the deadline for an offer approaches, it seems there is little hope of another reprieve for Lorne Avenue Public School.

The Thames Valley DIstrict School Board (TVDSB) says it has yet to receive a compliant offer to buy or lease a portion of the school.

An acceptable offer would have to be received by April 30 at midnight to prevent the school from closing in June 2015.

The board says an offer made by the City of London in March - that would have opened the space to community groups - did not include conditions to allow the continuation of an elementary school and community use.

In a statement, TVDSB chair Ruth Tisdale said, "It is imperative the school board have final say in what type of business or organization is housed in the surplus space. If a school is to remain functioning in a portion of the building, the remainder must be used by a business or organization that is suitable for children.

“The City also deleted sections that required the proponent to pay the costs associated with reconfiguring the elementary school. We could not accept the City’s offer without these conditions.”

The school was recommended for closure due to declining enrollment. It currently houses 270 students, though it has the capacity to host 880. In the event of a closure, students will be moved to St. George's and Bishop Townshend Public Schools.

It is estimated that closing the school will save the board $7 million in operating costs over the next 10 years.

Community working tirelessly to save school

Those who want Lorne Avenue to stay open say the process was designed and destined to fail, with a list of requirements too exhaustive and costs too high, for anybody to succeed.

Scott Maclean has spent years trying to keep Lorne Avenue open. He is disappointed, but says the announcement is not unexpected.

"Unfortunately, I'm not surprised. Senior administration at the board has been pushing back since day one...We were encouraged to come up with creative ideas and we've done them all so they were sustainable and doable in the space, and every single one of them has been shot down by senior administration."

London Mayor Joe Fontana adds "We came to them with a reasonable offer and they threw it back at us, essentially and said, 'It's not compliant, it's not enough.'"

In addition to the costly renovations needed to repurpose the vacant space, the city would have also been responsible for upgrading the section that would have continued as a school - outfitting it with features like new washrooms, elevators, lights, fire alarms and security and sprinkler systems.

Sarah Merritt of the Old East Village BIA says she knows why the costs were so high, "The people who made the recommendations to close the school, are the same people charged with developing the partnerships to keep the school open. That's rather like the fox designing the chicken coop."

Fontana is also expressing frustration with the process, "Everytime we offered to open up the books, to work creatively with them, they said, 'You know what? Sign a blank cheque, you're going to have to pay whatever we think we need in order to keep our school open...' The administration of this board could care less, they want to close this school."

Fontana has reached out to Ontario's education minister, urging her to halt the loss of what is seen as a valuable asset to the London community. If she doesn't intervene, Fontana fears the school will close.