Jamie Elder, owner of Unity Osoyoos, shows one of the t-shirts he made in April with the hashtag #OsoyoosStrong. The shirts were given out students at Osoyoos Secondary School and were sold in the community for a minimum donation of $20. Money raised was intended to support a new independent school in Osoyoos. (Richard McGuire photo)
Mere seconds after four trustees – none who live in Osoyoos – voted to close Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS) in early April, numerous parents screamed they will be working together to own and operate an independent school in this community and it would open by the fall.
Following an emotionally charged 90-minute meeting where you could literally feel the tension in the Osoyoos Secondary School Community Theatre, four members of the seven-member board of trustees voted to close Osoyoos Secondary School.
Trustees Rob Zandee (Oliver) Debbie Marten (Keremeos), Rachel Allenbrand (Oliver) and board vice-chair Sam Hancheroff (Okanagan Falls) voted in favour of a motion to close OSS, effective June 30.
Trustees June Harrington (Osoyoos), Myrna Coates (Keremeos) and board chair Marieze Tarr (Osoyoos) voted against the motion.
A tearful Coates had earlier introduced a motion to have the board vote in favour of granting a one-year delay on closing either school in Osoyoos.
However, her motion failed when Harrington was the only trustee to support it.
Brenda Dorosz, the chair of the Save our School committee that was formed after it was announced trustees would be looking at closing a school in Osoyoos, yelled out that this community would be opening its own independent school seconds after the final vote was tallied.
Dorosz stepped up the microphone a couple of minutes later and angrily denounced the board’s decision.
“You were entrusted to do the right thing and you failed,” she said to thunderous applause. “We will have an independent school in this town. I told you … and I warned you. You will pay. You are going to need to close all your schools now.”
Town councillor Mike Campol, who was visibly shaken by the decision, said he was convinced the four trustees who voted in favour of closing OSS had their minds made up long ago.
“This past two months has been the most disingenuous exercise that I have ever seen in my entire life,” he said.
The parents, educators and students in this community had made it very clear that they would do whatever it takes to find the cost savings needed to keep all schools in the district open and opting to close OSS with so many options available is unfathomable, said Campol.
“The parents showed courage … the teachers showed courage … the students showed courage,” said Campol. “What we haven’t seen here is courage by you.”
Mayor Sue McKortoff was shocked by the decision.
The right decision would have been to delay any decision on school closures for one year and look at all options to save costs and keep all school in the district open now and in the future, said McKortoff.
“Four of the trustees didn’t see the logic of giving us a year to find solutions and that’s really unfortunate,” she said.
She and members of town council are going to contact lawyers to see if anything can be done to reverse this decision and will also be contacting Minister of Education Mike Bernier to voice their concerns, said McKortoff.
“Town council and the members of this community are not to take this decision lying down,” she said. “This isn’t over by a long shot. Believe me, we’re not done.”
In the end, the pleading, threats and long list of cost-saving options presented to School District 53 trustees by literally thousands of parents, students, teachers and residents of Osoyoos weren’t enough.
Parents in Osoyoos have made it very clear to her they would not be sending their children to SOSS if the board voted in favour of closing OSS, said Harrington.
Many told her emphatically they would home-school their kids, send them to private school or start their own independent school in Osoyoos and she believes them, she said.
“We (trustees) are kidding ourselves if we don’t think this will happen,” she said.
Hancheroff said he couldn’t support Coates’ motion because the problem of declining enrolment has been a serious problem at OSS for many years.
Hancheroff said he was a trustee back in 2010 when the board warned parents in Osoyoos that OSS could possibly close if enrolment figures didn’t increase dramatically.
“We talked to the community … and made it clear we’ll have problems if things don’t get better,” he said. “We did a lot of talking and explaining … and let everyone know the government is giving us less money each year. The time has come now to make a decision.”
Tarr said the lack of adequate funding is at the heart of all the problems faced by the board.
“My children attended this school … and I know this is a great school,” she said.
But the board has a duty and responsibility to balance the budget and can’t ignore the growing annual deficits directly related to declining enrolment, she said.
She also realizes that closing OSS would result in young families deciding not to settle in this town, said Tarr.
“With no kindergarten to Grade 12, we’ll see a further drop in enrolment with less families moving to town,” she said.
Tarr also blamed the provincial government for inadequate funding to the education system.
“We are getting less and less funding with each passing year,” she said. “Halfway through the budget cycle, we have the government telling us we have to find more savings. That’s what has put us in this position.”
OSOYOOS TIMES STAFF
Osoyoos Times
Following the school board’s vote in April to close Osoyoos Secondary School, many residents turned their attention to establishing an independent school so Osoyoos students could stay in their own community. At one public meeting, participants broke off into smaller groups for “table sessions” where they discussed what they would like to see in a future Osoyoos community school. (Richard McGuire photo)
At a community event in April to welcome the Tabanjat family, refugees from Syria, the family got up to thank the Osoyoos community. Son Samer’s enthusiastic “Thank you” into the microphone caused many people to laugh, including mother Aya, father Mohamad and sister Fatima. (Richard McGuire photo)
The Osoyoos Refugee Committee was awarded for outstanding volunteer project of the year at the town’s annual volunteer awards in April for their efforts to support the Tabanjat family, Syrian refugees, as they settle in Osoyoos. Committee members who attended the ceremony include (left to right) Deb Holoboff, Don Blair, Leslee Blair, Marie Therrien, Gail Cornish, Vera Ryan, Michael Ryan. Other members of the original Steering Committee not present include Eileen Hopkins, Larry Wold, Lisa Ondejko Calder, Raouf Garram, Wayne and Janet Marcotte, Sue Read, Joan Shirriff, Sousan Najmeh, Wallace Murphy, Claire Hillier, Lee Chic. Other volunteers were also involved in preparing and outfitting the home and others are now serving as ESL teachers, tutors, drivers, helpers and friends. (Trevor Nichols photo)
Cpl. Jason Bayda, at the time second in command at the Osoyoos RCMP Detachment, spoke at the RCMP’s Community Safety Forum at the Sonora Community Centre last April. (Richard McGuire photo)
Aaron Zandvliet (right) sucked back oysters to win the Sage Pub’s fifth annual Shuck ‘n Suck competition in April. His partner, Andrew Cook, quickly shucked them. The race involved teams of two with one person shucking oysters and the other person sucking them back. Zandvliet and Cook were the defending champions. This was Zandvliet’s second year and Cook’s third year as a champion. This fun event contrasted with some of the more classy events taking place during the Osoyoos Oyster Festival at resort hotels and wineries. (Richard McGuire photo)
