The school district hope to wrap up the meeting by 9 p.m., but shown here there were still many people lined up at the mic at 9:10 p.m. The meeting didn’t end until nearly 10:30 p.m. as more and more people kept stepping up when the line-up got shorter. (Richard McGuire photo)
School District 53 is imposing a more structured format to the question period of its next consultation meeting on Osoyoos school closures.
That meeting is schedule for 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Sonora Community Centre on Tuesday, March 8.
Those wishing to speak or ask questions must submit a written request in advance and will be added to a speakers list. Forms for the request are available on the school district website and must be submitted by noon the day before.
Speakers will be limited to three minutes or less and the time limit will be moderated.
If time remains, the microphone will be open for further comments and questions.
At the previous meeting on Feb. 9 at Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS), questioners lined up at two microphones and were asked to keep their questions and comments to less than two minutes. Nonetheless, there was no enforcement of this and some people made long and rambling presentations, resulting in the meeting lasting nearly three and half hours.
The two consultation meetings are a requirement for the school district before it can close either OSS or Osoyoos Elementary School. The board is looking at closing one of the two schools to help eliminate a $530,000 structural deficit resulting from declining enrolment across the district. School districts are funded by the provincial government on a per-student basis.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
