Angry parents
Clarkson area parent Angella De Medeiros raised her concerns during a recent public meeting
 about proposed school closings. Parents will address the issue again at another meeting set for
Wednesday night at the school board's headquarters. File photo

Peel District School Board staff have endorsed the idea of closing of five public schools that feed Erindale and Clarkson Secondary Schools, but say the closures should not happen until September 2013 at the earliest.

A report prepared by board planners, to be presented Wednesday night, endorses recommendations made earlier by a special Accommodation Review Committee (ARC).

That committee, which held a series of 12 meetings and hosted four public meetings, recommended closing Ashgrove, King’s Masting and Pheasant Run elementary schools in Erindale and Elmcrest and Willow Glen public schools in Park Royal.

Ashgrove students will be redirected to Garthwood Public School, with King's Masting kids going to Brookmede and Pheasant Run students to Sawmill Valley Public School.

Most Grades 6-8 students in those communities will attend Erin Mills Middle School near South Common Mall.

In Park Royal, the board will negotiate with the City of Mississauga to acquire property beside Hillside Middle School, which will be expanded to become a Kindergarten to Grade 8 school.  It will accommodate students coming from the closed Elmcrest and Willow Glen Schools.

Many parents angrily opposed the proposed closures at the earlier public meetings.

Two deputations from parents are scheduled to be heard at Wednesday's meeting, which will be held at the school board's headquarters on Matheson Blvd. at Hurontario St.

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