A fight to keep a rural school open in Zorra Township has taken an unusual twist.
Many parents at A.J. Baker Public School are vowing to bail on the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) and send their children to schools in the nearby Avon Maitland District School Board.
"This school has been here for 50 plus years. The community is bound around it. It's been an integral part of our community," says parent Daniel West.
Parent representatives at A.J. Baker say as many as 75 families are prepared to pull their children out of the TVDSB and attend one of the many closer schools in neighbouring Avon Maitland.
That's if the TVDSB goes ahead with a staff recommendation to close A.J. Baker.
"We don't mean it as a threat. We want to stay in the Thames Valley board. We want to stay at A.J. Baker, it's simply a reality that that's closer," says parent Marcus Ryan.
Under the TVDSB plan, children would be sent to Zorra Highland Park Public School, Thamesford Public School or West Nissouri Public School.
But Ryan says nine schools in Avon Maitland are closer.
"We've had preliminary contacts with superintendents in the Avon Maitland board and they are in the same position as the Thames Valley board in that they have some empty pupil places in their board. And they're ready basically to take our kids if we choose to go that way," says Ryan.
In most cases, rural schools are up for closure because of low enrollment but that is certainly not the case at A.J. Baker.
In fact it's a highly unique situation, with the school at approximately 150 per cent capacity
"At A.J. Baker there's no room in the facility it's a very small facility. We would need to do renovations and an addition to put in full day kindergarten programs," says TVDSB chair Ruth Tisdale.
The TVDSB would use funding for full-day kindergarten at A.J. Baker and re-allocate it to one of the larger schools.
But one school board's loss could be another board's gain as per pupil funding sits at about $11,000 a year.
