Brenda Dorosz, chair of the Osoyoos Independent School committee, says planning for the school is moving full-steam ahead, despite waiting for the Town of Osoyoos to make a decision on the school’s use of the Sonora Community Centre and on possible municipal funding. (Richard McGuire file photo)
Efforts to establish an independent high school in Osoyoos are moving full-steam ahead, even though decisions on a facility and possible municipal funding rest with the town.
That’s the message from Brenda Dorosz, chair of the Osoyoos Independent School (OIS) committee, which was preparing to hold a community town hall meeting Tuesday evening to update the community.
The outcome of that 7 p.m. meeting in the gym at the Sonora Community Centre wasn’t known when the Osoyoos Times went to press, however Dorosz covered some of the key points in a prior interview.
Among recent developments:
- OIS has written to School District 53 requesting to use the facilities of Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS), which is slated for closure as of June 30;
- OIS has written to the Town of Osoyoos requesting an urgent meeting to discuss financial and facility concerns, including possible use of the upper floor of the Sonora Centre for the school;
- OIS has confirmed that the new independent school will be able to offer golf and soccer academies, and it is working on partnerships to be able to offer hockey and dance;
- Among the fundraising efforts, OIS is partnering with the June 4 Cactus Jalopies event.
Osoyoos town council has asked its administration to prepare a report looking at the issues of OIS use of the Sonora Centre and of the town providing municipal funding. These might need to go to a referendum.
Dorosz, however, said OIS is moving forward now rather than waiting.
“We just want to move ahead assuming things will work in our favour,” she said. “That’s what we’re basing all our decisions on right now. When we get a ‘yes,’ we’ll be ready to go.”
Dorosz said OIS has been in continuous meetings and calls covering such issues as insurance, meeting with financial institutions, obtaining quotes for lockers, arranging to obtain used textbooks, and forming partnerships to obtain sports academies.
They’ve also been receiving resumes from prospective teachers and education assistants.
Recently OIS announced it was pursuing a partnership with Good Shepherd Christian School, which would see that school add grades 8 to 12. Religious content at that level would be treated as an optional elective.
This partnership still hinges on OIS obtaining use of a facility and sufficient funding.
Mayor Sue McKortoff said it’s unfortunate there isn’t more time to set up the independent school, noting that the June 30 closure of OSS leaves little time to accomplish all the things that must be done to start the new school.
“It’s too bad because it would be a lot easier if there was six months or a year to get set up,” McKortoff said in an interview last week. “That being said, I’m just amazed at the tenacity and organizational ability of the people who are on the board, and their willingness to volunteer. There’s nothing like them. They’re willing to put their time and effort and sometimes jobs on hold to see whether they can make this work. I say full marks to them.”
McKortoff said the town is entering uncharted territory with regard to OIS’s requests for municipal funding and the use of the Sonora Centre.
“Our job is to make sure that we do things legally, according to the local government community charter,” she said. “We take our direction from our staff, who are very competent and know how to deal with this. Our job at the moment is to listen and to look at all the angles.”
She acknowledged that a referendum could make it difficult for the school to move forward in the timely manner, but the alternative, an alternate approval process, could also cause a delay.
In the case of the new fire hall, the alternate approval process didn’t work and the matter still had to go to a referendum, resulting in a longer delay than if it had just gone straight to a referendum, she said.
The mayor said she couldn’t be specific on whether a referendum would be required to approve funding or use of the Sonora Centre or both, saying this isn’t her area of expertise. She will look to the advice from staff.
Barry Romanko, town chief administrative officer, has been away, but returns to work this week.
There will be a closed meeting with staff to discuss some of these ramifications, McKortoff said, because they pertain to property and potentially to labour relations. However, any discussion on a possible referendum would be done at an open meeting.
Dorosz said Tuesday’s town hall meeting at the Sonora Centre will be crucial because OIS will seek registrations and course preferences from students. These are needed to better understand how many students there will be in each grade, to finalize timetables and to help determine course offerings.
The new school will be seeking arrangements with local businesses for training in trades and other subjects.
“We can’t move forward until we have numbers,” said Dorosz.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
Members of the Osoyoos Independent School committee come from a variety of backgrounds in education, business and other fields. FRONT FROM LEFT: Michelle Nehring (treasurer), Kuldeep Rai (Indo-Canadian rep), Brenda Dorosz (chair), Angela Westcott (education advisor). BACK FROM LEFT: Jas Sidhu (Indo-Canadian rep), David Adamson (vice chair), Chad Jensen (business rep), Raj Dhillon (Indo-Canadian rep). Not pictured is Angela Paolera (secretary). (Photo supplied)
