A cheque from the province for a little more than $118,000 didn’t turn out to be the silver bullet some were hoping would save Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS).

Trustee Rachel Allenbrand said the sum of $118,102 (announced by MLA Linda Larson on June 1) is “a drop in the bucket” in contrast to the school district’s $23 million operating budget. The $118,000 funding is enough to cover the salary of one administrator.

Chairperson Marieze Tarr apologized for the false sense of optimism the announcement created.

“People all of a sudden were hopeful again that this was going to be it and we’re going to be able to keep our high school in Osoyoos,” she said. “I know it’s been an emotional rollercoaster and we really regret that. We feel very sorry for our community going through this.”

Nonetheless, she said the district is very appreciative of the money.

“The $118,000 can provide our students with more services and that is what we will be using the money for,” she said. “We’ll be buying teacher time that would have been cut at the secondary level.”

The money will allow Southern Okanagan Secondary School to offer a Grade 12 economics course, an elective tech or shop course and a third program that will be announced soon. At Similkameen Elementary Secondary School, the money will allow for courses in yearbook, carpentry, super fit (a high end physical education course) and leadership.

The money remaining, around $20,000, will be spent on services and supplies within the schools, Tarr said.

“As a board and school district we’re going to be working very hard to ensure the success of all of our students and to provide them with the best possible education,” she stated.

Even if the province granted the school district with a cheque large enough to subsidize the $900,000 structural deficit, Tarr would still be apprehensive about using the money to keep OSS open.

“Kids were struggling to take all the courses they needed to graduate,” she said. “A lot of our students had to take quite a few courses through YouLearn to get all the courses they needed for graduation, and for a lot of students YouLearn is not optimal.”

By amalgamating the two high schools, students of both communities will have a wider variety of academic courses and more flexible options, she said.

While operating with a tight budget before deciding to close OSS, Tarr said some courses could only be offered once every two years. Because the district has more financial breathing room after deciding to close OSS, the high school in Oliver will be able to offer more support services for students, courses in Spanish and Punjabi, and also advanced placement programs in math, literature and history.

“Through advanced placement, students can get some post-secondary courses under their belt before they’re even in university,” Tarr said. “With a larger student body under one roof, we can offer kids more. It’s not just a financial decision, it’s a decision that will benefit all the students in our district.”

Superintendent Bev Young said once trustees concluded the one-time payment wouldn’t be enough to save OSS, deciding to spend the money on teacher time and student services was “pretty easy to agree to.”

Before the announcement was made on the morning of May 31, Young heard speculatively through the media that the province would be offering districts financial support. She was reluctant to ponder what the news might entail until it was made concrete, but realizes the anticipation sparked false hope.

“The board regrets the emotional rollercoaster that that decision caused the community of Osoyoos,” she said.

“One-time funding is not overly useful in any aspect,” said trustee Rob Zandee. “What we’ve been advocating for some time is stable, predictable funding.”

Zandee said some people are under the impression the $118,000 is new funding, but in fact it was administrative savings returned to the schools.

“It was the government saying, ‘You don’t have to actually cut this from the budget anymore,’” Zandee said.

Trustees are expected to apply the money towards expanding next year’s course offerings at the regular meeting on June 22 at 7 p.m.

The final budget is due to the Ministry of Education by the end of the month.

By Dan Walton