Three school trustee candidates vie for two positions on school board

Osoyoos voters will be picking two school trustees in addition to town council representatives when they vote on Oct. 20, or in one of the earlier advance polls.

The vote by residents of the Town of Osoyoos and Area A of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen is the only one taking place in School District 53.

Candidates in Oliver, Keremeos, Okanagan Falls and surrounding rural areas are all being acclaimed because the number of candidates matches the number of trustee positions available.

In Osoyoos, only one candidate, Casey Brouwer, is an incumbent because the other incumbent, Marieze Tarr, chose not to seek re-election.

Brouwer faces two challengers, Brenda Dorosz and Penny Duperron, meaning there are three candidates competing for two positions. One of the three will be defeated.

Dorosz is best known for her role in the successful fight to keep Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS) from closing in 2016.

Duperron ran against Brouwer in a byelection in the fall of 2016 after trustee June Harrington stepped down. She lost by 40 votes, and challenged the election on a technicality in court, but lost that challenge.

The following are profiles of the three candidates in alphabetical order by last name.

Casey Brouwer

As the only incumbent, Casey Brouwer, 40, said his two years on school board have been a learning experience.

“It was an eye-opener,” he said. “But it’s been good. I’ve learned a lot over the two years. I feel a lot more confident knowing what I’m signing up for.”

His experience has also given him a good foundation that he can build on in the coming term.

Although his first experience with politics was a learning curve, he said he caught on fairly quickly.

“They are great people to work with and there’s always good resources, people that help,” he said. “The thing I learned was don’t be afraid to ask question if you don’t understand what something is.”

Brouwer said he’s running because he likes to be involved in the community.

“This is a way that I can give back to my community and to Osoyoos itself,” he said, adding that he is also active as a firefighter, coaching basketball and working for the Town of Osoyoos.

“This is another avenue that I can put what I feel are my strong characteristics and abilities to use,” he said.

Brouwer said the fact that he still has two sons in the school system – the younger one attends OSS and the older one goes to Southern Okanagan Secondary School in Oliver – is also a bonus.

Although Brouwer has worked the last three years in public works, he previously worked at the Sonora Community Centre and was involved in youth and children’s sports programs, community programs and special events there.

Brouwer was born in Grimsby, Ontario, and his parents were both pastors. He moved a lot as a young child and ended up in B.C. when he was 10.

He came to Osoyoos 14 years ago at the age of 26.

“Over the years, I feel I’ve developed a positive, strong presence in the community and I can work well with many diverse groups,” he said. “I want to continue to be that strong advocate for our schools.”

Brenda Dorosz

Brenda Dorosz, 47, has lived in Osoyoos most of her life, but she came to the attention of many in the community in 2016 when she led the campaign to save OSS from closure.

At that time, she chaired the Save Our Schools (SOS) committee and she also chaired a committee aiming to start an Osoyoos independent school when it looked like the battle to save OSS was lost.

But Dorosz has been active in numerous education and other community efforts both before the OSS issue and after.

She was a director for three years on the Osoyoos East Bench Irrigation District around a decade ago.

She got involved with Communities for Kids when it first started and her son was very young – he’s now 20.

She volunteered at Sagebrush Lodge.

And she’s been active with Parent Advisory Councils from the time her son was in kindergarten until his graduation. During that time she served as chairs of PACs at Osoyoos Elementary, OSS and at the school district level.

Dorosz has also played a role with other social issues. For one year she participated on a crystal meth task force with the RCMP. Two years ago, she and two other local women started the Osoyoos Gift Cupboard.

She volunteers with the Osoyoos Food Bank helping with Christmas hampers.

And she also played a leading role with Residents for Healthcare, circulating a petition to try to bring a walk-in medical clinic to Osoyoos.

And that’s far from a complete list.

She works as assistant manager and cellar hand at Moon Curser Vineyards for 10 months of the year.

Asked why she’s running, Dorosz said she’s passionate about education.

“I think kids and young adults from kindergarten through Grade 12 – we need to make sure they’re ready for society,” she said. “Every day society is changing and we need to make sure they have resources and the education they need to be successful.”

Dorosz said there needs to be further curriculum changes. She acknowledges that there have been new curricula, such as recently for Grade 10, and that change needs to come at the provincial level rather than by the school board.

“I think as a trustee we can provide input and be a go-between for our citizens, teachers and students to make sure the resources are in place and they get the support they need,” she said.

Dorosz said she doesn’t believe special needs kids are getting the support they need and she said that’s important for her.

She also wants to see better communication with parents.

Funding, she said, is still the biggest gap in the system and she hopes the

province will look at different funding models for urban and rural centres in the review that’s now underway.

“We’re a small rural district and I think sometimes we get overshadowed,” she said. “So we need to have a voice.”

Dorosz said she would still like to see a joint committee between municipalities and the school boards, an idea that Osoyoos proposed, but SD 53 previously rejected.

She said that both she and Duperron often attend school board meetings to watch and stay informed.

Although Dorosz said she has not yet served as a trustee, she has experience working with the board through her involvement with PACs and other activities.

“I’m a determined individual,” she said. “I’m a proven advocate throughout the community for families, community and education. If you want to get something done, trust me to get it done… I think it’s important to listen to what our community needs for education.”

Penny Duperron

Penny Duperron says she’s been involved with schools throughout her adult life.

“I’ve been involved as a coach, as a parent, grandparent,” she said. “I worked for schools in different capacities as a substitute teacher, teacher’s aide, child care worker in alternate schools. I’ve been involved in the school system in that capacity from kindergarten right through to Grade 12.”

Duperron has also been active with PACs since the time her own children were in school, serving for a while as the school representative to the district PAC.

She regularly attends school board meetings to stay informed.

She’s also active in other community activities such as the Sun Bowl Skating Club where her granddaughter, Laura Devries, has been one of the leading skaters.

Most recently she’s joined the committee for the Osoyoos Ambassador program.

She works as a legal assistant at a local law office.

“Education is my passion,” said Duperron. “I strongly believe that education is the key to our children’s futures and also to the community’s future.”

Duperron said she’d like to see some changes on school board.

“I think it’s time for some new faces and new ideas,” she said. “I’d like to be part of trying to develop trust from our community in the board.”

One idea for change, she said, is to have board meetings rotate between communities.

“Let’s start bringing the board to the people instead of people to the board,” she said. “There are lots of reasons why people can’t go to Oliver. I don’t know if it was tried in the past, but it seems like there’s only normally two people from the public there at any given time. I don’t think we’re going to get less turnout.”

Meetings, she said, could be held in schools where there is no school board office.

“We can give up comfy seats,” she said. “You don’t need comfy seats to have a meeting. Students are expected to sit in them all day.”

The schools also have whiteboard and smart technologies for the meetings, she added.

Duperron believes Osoyoos isn’t out of the woods yet on the threat of school closure.

“I think we’re going to need some strong voices on the board to make sure that Osoyoos’ needs are met,” she said. “I am passionate about education and I want to see our kids get the best possible education in their own communities.”

She sees the fluctuation of enrolment numbers as the biggest threat to keeping OSS open, but she argues that the flexible timetable introduced a couple years ago addresses the problems.

“I don’t see Osoyoos becoming a small community,” she said. “We just have to keep making sure people are moving in with kids.”

Duperron also supports the idea of regular meetings between the school board and municipal representatives.

“I was kind of disappointed that the board didn’t want to go that route,” she said. “Yes, I know it’s one more day, one more meeting, but to me it would be an important meeting. It’s something that keeps you connected with your communities and that’s what we need.”

Duperron was born in Princeton, but her family moved around the province. She mostly grew up in Clinton and attended high school in Ashcroft. She attended University of Alberta, before moving to Smithers for 21 years to raise a family.

She moved to Osoyoos in 2002, and has raised two granddaughters here, both of whom attended OSS.

RICHARD McGUIRE

Osoyoos Times