Dear Editor:
This is an open letter to B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Minister of Education Mike Bernier regarding the recent decision by trustees with School District 53 to close Osoyoos Secondary School.
I implore you to assist our town in rescuing our secondary school from the jealousies of the two towns of Oliver and Osoyoos.
Our school is such a part of the community and to lose it would be devastating.
The community theatre that was built as part of the school, was built specifically by the combined efforts and financing of the Town of Osoyoos, the Osoyoos Rural Area and the School District. Each jurisdiction paid one third of the cost of adding this building to the school.
This added funding created extra space for use by students and created a true community school.
The fact that the people of Osoyoos were willing to fund this attribute to the new school, showed the dedication and value our citizens placed on the young people of our town and area and the desire to give them every advantage of attending a school in their town.
For the present trustees of the school district to decide that our school is not viable shows a remarkable lack of vision, accountability and judgment.
Our students do well in every aspect of life and make our town proud of their many accomplishments – academically, personally and community-oriented.
Our town council and many residents of our town have stepped up and offered many sensible solutions to resolve the temporary funding shortage, but the trustees have completely ignored the valuable assistance offered.
It is completely indefensible to say that these solutions are not worth trying.
It just makes it look as if the trustees had a hidden agenda.
On a final note – although I am against any school closing – if one must be closed, the logical one is the Tuc-El-Nuit Elementary School in Oliver.
Why should the district want two half-full elementary schools in Oliver, when they could so easily be consolidated in one school in one town?
This would save money, be far less traumatic to the students, be more logical and be less destructive than closing our only secondary school in Osoyoos.
I implore you to do the research and find out the true facts behind the closing of our Osoyoos Secondary School.
I really don’t want to believe that it is because of the ongoing rivalry between the two towns.
However, there seems to be no logical reason for the decisions made by the board of trustees.
To Mr. Bernier, I just want you to know that this letter is an appeal to you in your capacity as the overseer of education in our province.
I am not sure if you are aware of the efforts our town and local rural district have put into assisting the Education Ministry in providing extra structures, land and funds to provide an exceptional community school for our secondary school students here in Osoyoos and the rural area.
I do know that you are aware that the local school board is now determined to refuse all offers of funding and planning offered by the Town of Osoyoos – the citizens of the town – and the citizens of the rural areas to tide the education ministry and the school district over a temporary small decline in student population.
It is a mystery why the school board is not willing to work with our community to preserve the excellent school system we have in the district.
We are not asking for extra funding; we are willing to explore other methods of operation and funding (other than busing our students to Oliver) if necessary.
Our town counil has even offered to mitigate some of the School District’s shortfall.
What more could a school district want?
Another mystery is the need for two half-empty elementary schools in Oliver.
Certainly, if there is a funding crunch, the amalgamation of these two schools would make more sense.
Two-underutilized schools in one town makes no sense whatsoever.
Even another anomaly exists in the Oliver schools. After a fire demolished the previous secondary school in Oliver in 2011, it has been stated that the new replacement school was ‘accidently’ overbuilt by 700 square feet.
And we, the taxpayers, have been paying all these years for unwarranted space.
Was this when the plan was made to close our high school?
I can’t quite believe this was done on purpose, but someone on the school board overseeing the building of Southern Okanagan Secondary School in Oliver must have known of the mistake.
This information just came to my attention during all the furor over the suggested closing of our secondary school.
It just makes the board’s attitude against our secondary school in Osoyoos even more unpalatable.
I would be very happy if we could disassociate ourselves from the manipulators who are so unaware of other’s dreams and so jealous of any other’s accomplishments.
Certainly the fact that Osoyoos citizens and trustees never denied Oliver the right to have its secondary school re-built after the unfortunate fire, should be reason enough for Oliver to show the same co-operation towards our Osoyoos secondary school.
It is now time for the Oliver trustees to stand up to the plate and assist the Town of Osoyoos and its citizens in keeping their secondary school in Osoyoos!
Thank you for your attention.
Virginia Cook
Osoyoos, B.C.
Editor’s Note: Virginia Cook was one of two trustees with former School District 14 who fought valiantly and successfully to bring a secondary school to Osoyoos back in the late 1980s. She was a local school trustee for more than a decade. A photograph of Cook cutting the ribbon to officially open Osoyoos Secondary School appeared on the front page of the Osoyoos Times in late September of 1979.
