Lawrencetown hosts public meeting on school's future

Residents of Lawrencetown and area will have a chance to have their input into the future use of Lawrencetown Colnsolidated School when a subcommitee of the Lawrencetown Village Commission holds a public meeting July 8 at 7 p.m. at the fire hall.

Village commission chair Troy Emmett, who heads the committee, said he wants local residents to have their say and help secure a bright future for the school.

One June 2 the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board warned that declining elementary school enrollments in Annapolis County over the next six years will mean tough decisions in the future as schools become less financially viable.

While the board did not say closures were pending, superintendent Norman Dray and finance director Stuart Jamieson did ask municipal units, school advisory councils, and individuals to put on their thinking caps and come up with options to keep schools open.

Emmett said that for Lawrencetown, closing the elementary school is not an option. He attended a recent meeting of the school's SAC and said the village will be working closely with that group and that the village commission will also keep in touch with Bridgetown council and SACs in that town.

On July 8 he wants members of the public to voice their views and suggest options which his committee will note and include in the village's eventual submission to the school board.

He said Lawrencetown Consolidated is the very heart of the community and residents who might not make their own personal submission to the board can contribute through the July 8 public meeting.