Jamie Elder, owner of Unity Osoyoos, shows one of the T-shirts he’s making with the hashtag #OsoyoosStrong. These will be given out this week to students at Osoyoos Secondary School and will be sold in the community for a minimum donation of $20. Money raised will go to support a new independent school in Osoyoos. (Richard McGuire photo)
Members of the Osoyoos community have begun the process to establish an independent high school in the wake of last week’s decision by School District 53 to close Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS).
The initiative has the backing of Town of Osoyoos council and a number of local businesses.
No sooner did school trustees vote last Wednesday to close OSS when members of the audience shouted: “Independent, here we come!”
Brenda Dorosz, chair of the Save Our Schools (SOS) committee, said after the meeting that she’s already spoken with the provincial government about taking over the lease for the OSS buildings for the new school.
The application is ready to submit, she said, and she’s exploring private and public funding options.
Jason Bartsch, an Osoyoos dentist, said the next step is determining the will of the community to move forward with the idea.
“We are laying the roadmap for what we feel is going to be a community-driven solution,” he said. “We are actively meeting, we’re discussing and we’re pulling the appropriate experience and resources from our community and bringing the appropriate people to the table to help guide us and steer us in a direction that is going to be best suited for our town.”
The “tremendous loss” to the town with the decision to close OSS has united the community and brought residents together with a common vision and a will to take control of education, Bartsch said.
The Osoyoos Community School Committee has been formed to explore alternatives for an Osoyoos community school, aiming for a solution in time for the September 2016 school year.
Bartsch declined to discuss how a steering committee might be structured, saying the process was still in its early stages.
“It’s a concerted effort amongst myself, the town council and the administration of the town,” Bartsch said.
In a letter to the Osoyoos community, Mayor Sue McKortoff and council said: “We will … be putting the resources of the community into assisting the group that is endeavouring to establish an independent school.”
The letter gave no further details of the extent to which the town will assist the project.
“I realize it will be quite a procedure to get it going,” McKortoff said in an interview following the board’s decision. “There are some options. One of them is the school that is operating in Rossland. I think we need to absolutely look at all of those and get right on board with it really quickly.”
McKortoff was referring to Seven Summits Centre for Learning in Rossland, which was formed by community members in 2013 after School District 20 closed Rossland Secondary School.
Dorosz acknowledged that students would need to pay tuition to attend an independent school, saying a quick calculation put the cost at somewhere between $100 and $200 per month.
“If we get enough public sector and private sector funding, we’re going to keep it as low as possible,” she said. “We are not scared. “We’re going to have our kids here in September.”
Asked how many students would be needed to make it viable, Dorosz didn’t have a number at this time.
“I’m confident that the community will back an independent school and we’ll be successful,” she said, adding that at least 40 to 50 per cent of parents will pull their children out of School District 53.
Meanwhile, Bartsch and others have launched a campaign with the hashtag “#OsoyoosStrong” through social media.
Jamie Elder, owner of Unity Osoyoos, a clothing and board sports store, has begun silk screening T-shirts with the hashtag, assisted by community volunteers.
Elder said he planned to distribute 300 shirts to OSS students on Friday. Later, shirts will be sold in the community for a minimum $20 donation, with proceeds going to help fund the independent school.
Bartsch said members of the Osoyoos community would be asked to wear the shirts regularly on Fridays.
“We’re going to be striking up a fundraising effort,” said Bartsch. “We’re going to be launching an #OsoyoosStrong fundraising campaign.”
Although the form the new school takes will depend on what the community wants, Bartsch said, he sees opportunities for the school to innovate.
“At the second public meeting, I spoke of different opportunities for sports programs such as hockey and golf, and different agricultural and viticultural programs – all of the things that make this area unique,” he said. “I think a properly implemented program can make this a huge benefit for the community.”
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
Jamie Elder (fourth from left), owner of Unity Osoyoos, prepares to silk screen T-shirts with the hashtag #OsoyoosStrong. Looking on from left are volunteers Hannah Shiels, Kelly Lao, Brock Jackson, Elder and Alyssa Macor. (Richard McGuire photo)
Jason Bartsch spoke at the March 8 “public consultation” meeting. He argued that Osoyoos is prepared to go ahead with an independent school if School District 53 closes one of the public schools. (Richard McGuire file photo)
