More schools province wide are threatened with closures after a policy change by Education Minister Serge Rousselle.
On Friday, a change to policy 409 means a sustainability study and review is automatically triggered if a school has fewer than 100 students, or enrollment slips under 30 percent.
New Brunswick Teacher’s Association President Peter Fullerton says this “one size fits all” policy is unfair to rural schools.
He says to close rural schools would force students to be bussed long distances to another school.
Fullerton also says we may have fewer students in the system, but the total needs of the students continues to rise.
Fullerton says the changes have tripled the number of schools that will conduct a sustainability review to 42 province wide.