Plans to launch a Gabriola middle school for grades eight and nine this fall may falter if more students don’t sign up soon.

Gabriola Early Secondary School Committee Chair Kathy Dennison said parents only have until the end of the month to sign up the seven more students required to bring a teacher to Gabriola.

Dennison said Wednesday that eight children have signed up for the ‘middle school’ and the committee is waiting till the end of February to see if any more stragglers show up. The committee has been told it will need 15 students to make it feasible for a teacher to come to Gabriola to teach them, she said.

Dennison said the committee contacted School District #68 Superintendent Mike Munroe recently to update him and were encouraged by the fact that he did not tell them it is too late to get a class together for this year.

Dennison said that a group of grade eight students visited this year’s grade seven students to tell them they weren’t really enjoying Nanaimo District Secondary School (NDSS). The grade eights said the commute makes for a really long day followed by an evening’s worth of homework, Dennison said. Grade seven students reported the impression that “NDSS kind of sucks”, she said.

Noting that it “could be a great alternative to the long days spent going back and forth to Nanaimo for high school”, Dennison suggested that current grade eight NDSS students consider coming back to Gabriola for grade nine.

Dennison also asked parents: “If you are at all interested please get in touch because we could still make this happen”, for next September.

Dennison may be reached at 250-247-8924.