Students from across Toronto have travelled by ferry to the Island Natural Science School for decades to learn about wildlife, ecosystems and the environment just steps from Lake Ontario, but now families are learning the long-running program is coming to an end.

“I think it came as a big surprise to everybody and it’s a little bit disappointing because it is such a unique spot for a lot of inner-city kids to make the trip to and experience the island and no cars,” parent Brian Campanotti said.

“It really is focused on education and sciences and things like that, so it really came as a shock to everybody and I don’t know what the impact is going to be on the Island Public School.”

A representative for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) said the closure is part of broader changes to its outdoor education programming.

“With tens of millions of dollars in maintenance and repairs required, we have made the difficult decision to close one outdoor education centre (Warren Park OEC),  ending the leases at two others (Forest Valley OEC and Etobicoke OEC), and end programming at two in-school locations (Toronto Urban Studies Centre and Island Natural Science School),” TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird wrote.

The decision is raised concerns among families, who said the school itself is already facing uncertainty amid discussions at the provincial level to potentially expand Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.

“Obviously we’re also not in favour of the extension of the Billy Bishop airport, so to find out there’s another threat to the school — which is the science school shut down and what that might mean for a small school like Island Public School — was really upsetting,” parent Una Janicijevic said.

Parents added they’re questioning what the future could look like for students living or attending school on the island, which has limited options.

“I have two kids that attend Grade 4 and junior kindergarten so what that means for their future and we’re in an area that doesn’t have a lot of schools,” Janicijevic said.

“Where that puts our kids is a big question mark for families, so yeah we’re pretty upset about it.”

TDSB officials said they still recognize the importance of outdoor education and plan to work with external sites to continue offering opportunities for students if demand exceeds capacity at its remaining centres.

“Even when I was a kid a million years ago they were sending kids over there, so it’s been a really long-standing fixture of Toronto education and really sad,” Campanotti said.