Some people weren’t too happy about being led astray or given false hope prior to last week’s school funding announcement.
School District No. 53 actually apologized to the public for this, but it wasn’t their fault.
In a bid to be the first to leak the news, ODN posted a story (which was later removed) about MLA Linda Larson coming up with a money plan to save Osoyoos Secondary School from closure. The headline and story actually suggested that the high school wouldn’t have to close.
However, that was far from the truth because it was later revealed by school trustees that the funding ($118,000) wasn’t enough to keep the facility open.
Funny how the online story referred to a trusted source, and funny how a week before ODN published an admission that the daily blog is “not a trusted media source.”
Very confusing, but we’ll let the readers decide what is fact and what is fiction.
Some online media sources were criticized for raising false hope for Osoyoos. But the Oliver Chronicle is not one of them. We waited until after the news conference before publishing the facts.
If we choose to do so, we are free to bombard the public with rumours and half-truths. Maybe that would give us more “hits.” But that’s not how we do business in Oliver, and people know that.
We read with interest and disappointment when our MLA commented about the animosity between Oliver and Osoyoos over the high school closure.
Larson said when somebody from Oliver goes to Osoyoos to shop and is told to “get the hell out of town” because nobody wants their business, it’s gone too far.
We pressed Larson on this and she said her information came from an extremely reliable source.
However, the Chronicle learned (from an extremely reliable source) that the person wasn’t told to get the hell out of town by a merchant. He was approached by someone on the street to say he should be supporting Osoyoos in keeping the high school open.
Once again, a comment blown out of proportion.
An Osoyoos merchant wouldn’t be so inconsiderate towards a shopper, unless the shopper was belligerent.
No doubt some Osoyoos residents feel animosity towards the Wine Capital of Canada for escaping the school district’s axe.
But Oliver could find itself in the same boat if the board has to deal with another deficit.
We believe the student transition from Osoyoos will benefit the youth in the long run by giving them more academic choices.
And if Osoyoos is successful in establishing an independent school, we applaud the community for doing that. Their determination is commendable.
What some people have failed to do is put themselves in Osoyoos’ shoes. What if the board decided to close Oliver’s only high school? The pushback would be enormous, perhaps more than what was seen in Osoyoos. Think about that and you may begin to have real empathy for our neighbour to the south.
Lyonel Doherty, editor
