St. Gabriel to close after school year

ECSB closes two schools Two catholic elementary schools, St. Gabriel and St. Margaret, will close in June. CTV Edmonton’s Regan Hasegawa reports.

Edmonton Catholic Schools has decided to close St. Gabriel Catholic Elementary School in June.

The Board of Trustees voted five to two to shut down the school located at 55 Street and 106 Avenue and move its students to St. Brendan Catholic School—three kilometres away—in September.

After trustees reviewed data from the city, as well as feedback and letters from parents, they decided to close the school after it went from 141 students last year to the current 132—well below the 137 needed to operate.

The school was nearly closed in 2014, but trustees decided against it after an overwhelming response from the community.

“We have not only lost catholic education for 132 students at this particular school, at this particular time we have now affected possibly catholic education for years to come,” Laura Mercier, the mother of one of the students, said.

ECS also voted to close St. Margaret Catholic School, but its Centre for Diverse Learning will relocate to the former St. Gabriel school site in September. The centre offers programs for students with behavioural challenges, but it lacked space.

With files from CTV Edmonton’s Regan Hasegawa