THE HEART OF THE COMMUNITY? RURAL SCHOOL CLOSURE CONFLICTS AND RURAL IDENTITY IN NOVA SCOTIA

Abstract

In the 2010s in Nova Scotia, school boards in the province decided to close and consolidate over 30 schools, most of them in rural areas. The closure of these elementary and secondary schools came amid demographic shifts in the aging province and cuts to the provincial education budget. In many of the rural communities with schools slated to close, community members fought back against the school closures, with varying success. Proponents of school closure made arguments about efficiency and fairness, while opponents of school closure emphasized the importance of place and claimed that that schools represented an essential local institution—the heart of the community.

This dissertation uses case studies of the school closure conflicts in the Nova Scotian villages of Maitland and Petite Rivière to draw attention to the ways in which policymakers’ priorities and values clash with the priorities and values of rural residents. Through in-depth analysis of two school boards’ school review processes, I interrogate the factors that drove the decisions to close schools, including the development of the school review process, the extent to which public opinion influenced decisions, and the constraints that school boards faced. While school boards may have felt like they had limited choices and that rural school closures were their only option, this outcome is contingent on the normalization of public divestment in both rural communities, and schools. Interviews with students, teachers, and community members in Maitland and Petite Rivière show that rural schools had an important community role, no matter the size.

Drawing on literature from rural sociology, political economy, and education, this dissertation ultimately invites policymakers to consider more flexible and equitable service delivery to rural areas.