Breaking news... It was announced this afternoon that PCVS supporters are launching a legal challenge against the local school board's decision to close PCVS.

From a press release we received:

"Thanks to an overwhelming response from generous supporters who want to retain Peterborough Collegiate & Vocational School (PCVS) as a fully functional downtown high school, the Peterborough Needs PCVS Committee has identified sufficient financial resources to move forward with an application for an injunction and judicial review of the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board’s decision to close PCVS at the end of this school year.

After consulting with students, parents and numerous others impacted by the proposed closure of PCVS, including a recent meeting attended by more than 300 public school ratepayers, the Peterborough Needs PCVS Committee will file the necessary application and motions in the Ontario courts.

Peterborough Needs PCVS regrets the necessity for legal action, which is divisive, costly and adversarial. The committee and others have repeatedly urged the Board to work with the community in exploring alternatives to closing PCVS, which is too valuable to lose - for students, for Peterborough's downtown, and for the entire community. The Board has not responded to the suggestion of a consultative and collaborative community solution, leaving PCVS supporters with no alternative but to ask the courts to review the closure process and overturn the decision.

At the meeting of supporters on April 4, the advisability and costs of recourse to the courts was considered. In less than a week’s time support for this course of action was overwhelmingly reflected by the receipt of the required financial resources to proceed. It is expected that counsel for the applicants, Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP will file be filing in the immediate future.

For more info, go to Peterboroughneedspcvs.com

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[Photo and caption bubble by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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