Glengarry District High School (GDHS) students are protesting the potential closure of the school. On October 25, students walked out of school with signs in hand, ready to show everyone that they are going to stand up for their rights to go to a school near them and to show that they are not letting G.D.H.S shut down.
A GDHS graduate gave a heartwarming speech to all the students that walked out. Mr. David Filion was a graduate of GDHS, whose brother was a biology teacher at the school and was also the students guidance counsellor. Filion offered many reasons as to why the students should keep fighting for their school. If the school shuts down, students will have to take an hour to two hour long bus ride just to get to school, argued Mr. Filion. The closing of GDHS will force 350 students to go either to Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institution or Tigwa Secondary School. Shutting down the school will not only affect the students but also the whole community of Alexandria, argued Filion: Alexandria will lose the business they bring in when all the kids go out for lunch, and all of the students who have part time jobs. There will be 25,000 people in the community who will be affected by the closing of the schools causing a ripple effect, he said. Char-Lan District High School, which is the next closest English high school, will potentially be shut down as well.
The Upper Canada District School Board does not only want to close GDHS but also 29 other schools in the board. By the end of the school year the (UCDSB) plans to have 16 schools closed out of the 29 schools. Glengarry has been holding protests since Friday, October 21 where they invited people from the community out for a peaceful protest at the Municipality and Community Partner’s Meeting.
The group’s facebook page is here.
Seen from left to right: Jillian Christina MacLeod, Marshall Wilson, David Filion
