After four decades, an independent school on Salt Spring Island has entered into a school closure procedure, according to officials, citing unexpected understaffing and lack of student enrolment.
Ganges Education Society board member and Salt Spring Centre School founder Usha Rautenbach told the Driftwood Sunday, Aug. 11 that after consultation with both the Office of the Inspector of Independent Schools and B.C.’s Federation of Independent Schools Association, the school would not be opening in September.
Rautenbach, who began the Salt Spring Centre School with a single teacher and one multi-aged classroom in 1983, had also taught at the school, later serving as principal until 1997. She said tuition fees for students enrolled for the 2024-2025 year would be refunded, and there had been some parent efforts begun to organize around the school’s Blackburn Road facilities.
The school provided instruction for students from kindergarten through Grade 7, encompassing the regular curricula laid out by the B.C. Ministry of Education and Child Care, as well as emphasizing interpersonal relationships, environmental awareness and individual creativity. Enrolment had been in a period of decline, according to school administrators, and Sunday night’s announcement was not entirely unexpected.
Salt Spring Centre School’s closure comes after Phoenix Elementary shuttered in September 2023. That alternative K-7 school had been operated within the Gulf Islands School District since 1991 and was closed due to declining enrolment and operational budget deficits, according to the district.