Sue McKortoff, Mayor, Town of Osoyoos. (Richard McGuire file photo)
Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff sent a strongly worded letter Friday to Marieze Tarr, chair of School District 53, opposing the closure of Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS).
Pointing to the need for “out-of-the-box solutions,” McKortoff charges that the proposed school closure is “an ‘in-the-box’ solution and is squarely at the bottom of the box.”
McKortoff said the economic and social damage that would be inflicted on Osoyoos by closing OSS “is astronomical compared to the trivial savings of closing the school.”
She pointed out that Osoyoos residents and Area A residents respectively contribute $3.8 million and $1.2 million in school taxes annually, but would lose OSS over a regional deficit of $530,000.
The mayor also takes aim at the fact that Southern Okanagan Secondary School (SOSS) had its student capacity increased to 700 from 550 students.
“By all appearances, the decision to close OSS was made at the same time as the decision to increase the size of SOSS,” wrote McKortoff. “This current situation ‘taints’ the concept of SD 53 providing transparent governance and consultation with the regional constituency. Regional consultation needed to be carried out prior to the expansion of SOSS.”
McKortoff also pointed to the academic and cultural successes of OSS, the negative impacts of busing and travel for Osoyoos students, the lack of consideration of other options, the lack of information on real net cost savings by closing OSS and the lack of information on how the school district’s budget deficit will be solved over the next three years.
Separately, Osoyoos resident Robin Stille issued a 12-page letter and comments Thursday on the proposed closure that challenges many of the numbers provided by the school district.
Her figures raise serious doubts about the cost savings SD 53 claims would result from the school closure, unless there are significant layoffs of teachers that the school district hasn’t accounted for.
Watch the Osoyoos Times and www.OsoyoosTimes.com for updates and further details.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
- See full letter from Mayor Sue McKortoff to SD 53 Board Chair Marieze Tarr
- See full letter from Robin Stille to all trustees of SD 53
Robin Stille delivered a strong, detailed and well-researched challenge to school district figures and pointed to areas where the school budget could be cut without closing schools. (Richard McGuire photo)
School board chair and Osoyoos Trustee Marieze Tarr opened the meeting. She told the audience she didn’t vote on Jan. 13 motions to start the process to close Osoyoos schools, because she was chairing the meeting and the chair doesn’t vote except to break a tie. She said if she had voted, she would have opposed the motions. (Richard McGuire photo)
