Residents fear school closures could turn Norddjurs towns into ghost towns

Parents and residents in Norddjurs Municipality fear that local school closures could harm their communities, DR reports. The municipality is reviewing the future of its primary schools, and closures have not been ruled out.

Last week, politicians decided to protect Toubroskolen, a school near Trustrup outside Grenaa. That decision has increased pressure on the municipality’s other small schools.

“The proposals we have forwarded also include closures of school departments, so it is clearly on the table,” said Alexander Myrhøj of the Socialist People’s Party, chair of Norddjurs’ children, family and schools committee.

Janne Kastrup Johansen, whose two children attend Langhøjskolen in Vivild, said a possible closure could affect both her children’s well-being and the wider town.

“We fear that people will stop moving here. In the long term, that means nurseries and kindergartens will close, and then we are on our way to becoming a ghost town,” she said.

Kastrup Johansen acknowledges that Langhøjskolen has become worn, but does not believe its condition is serious enough to justify closing it. She has founded the Bevar Langhøjskolen association, which currently has 80 members. The group has made T-shirts, banners and signs to show the school’s importance to the local community.

Myrhøj said he understood residents’ fears but argued that people should also welcome the fact that politicians are addressing the schools.

“Today, children’s well-being is not at a level we can be satisfied with, and the academic results are not good enough either,” he said.

Norddjurs Municipality is expected to decide at the end of September which scenarios for the future of its schools will be sent out for consultation.