Ontario Education Minister Kathleen Wynne is making the rounds, talking to parents, trustees and local education officials about the many challenges facing education today.

It was a welcome visit, if only to put the minister in one-to-one situations with those confronted daily by the changes in education, not the least of which is declining enrollment and subsequent decisions to fade out under-utilized and older schools.

Any move to permanently close a local school is controversial. Communities, and neighbourhoods, are attached to their schools. In a perfect world all students would enjoy a brief walk to school, but that has never been the reality. A significant number of students have always been bused to regional schools.

That’s especially true in rural areas.

So while concerns about where students will be educated will remain, perhaps a more pressing issue is the quality of education they receive when they get there.

Why, for instance, do schools across the county, and province, vary in terms of rankings? Why is it students at one school do better in math, literacy, science, etc., than at another? Why do some schools offer more and better extra-curricular activities? If all things are equal, shouldn’t all schools produce roughly the same results?

Educators and parents should also be alarmed at the growing evidence the education system is failing boys, who are dropping out in increasing numbers.

The condition of the student body should also be a concern, as in the actual physical condition of a student’s body. Obesity among youngsters is a growing problem. What are schools doing to combat this? Are solutions applied evenly across the board?

And then there are the safety issues, including bullying. Students have a right to attend school without fearing for their personal safety.

There’s little doubt declining enrollment is a challenge that demands attention. But enrollment goes up and down depending on the demographics of a particular time. When boomers were kids, schools were packed; new ones were built to handle the need.

A natural outcome of declining enrollment is a rationalization of existing schools. The emotional reaction to the closing of schools is understandable, but the quality of education is of more vital interest than the location.