Six of the seven school board trustees came of OSS to hear from the Osoyoos community about the potential school closings. From left are Rob Zandee, Rachel Allenbrand, Debbie Marten, June Harrington, Myrna Coates and Chair Marieze Tarr. Missing was Sam Hancheroff. (Richard McGuire photo)
A lot of questions are being asked amid the school closure debate in Osoyoos, but one Oliver trustee suggests the real question is: is keeping a school open at all costs the most important thing?
If it is, then any reduction in costs would come at the expense of classroom time, which means fewer opportunities for students, according to Rob Zandee.
“This goes against what the board’s educational mandate is: maximizing educational opportunities for the students in the district.”
Zandee said he empathizes with Osoyoos parents because nobody wants a local school to close its doors.
A recent public meeting in Osoyoos attracted nearly 1,000 people, with speaker after speaker opposing the notion of closing either Osoyoos Elementary or Osoyoos Secondary to offset a growing deficit.
One idea put forth was implementing a four-day school week.
Zandee said if a four-day week was such a panacea (a remedy for all ills), every district would be doing it.
“I do know that it is very detrimental to students with learning challenges and individualized learning programs who require more contact, not less.”
Zandee said there are districts that have been on the four-day week and have gone back to five days due to increased social problems among students.
From what he has heard anecdotally, the switch to the four-day week only saved the Boundary school district approximately $200,000.
Zandee said the passion that was evident in Osoyoos was good to see, and the board will certainly be looking at some of the budgetary points that were brought up.
As a result, the board will be looking at and trying to cost out some of the ideas, such as the four-day week, the trustee noted. Zandee said the only way the district gets more money is to get more students.
“I have been telling this to councils and their reps since before I was elected as a trustee. Personally, I believe that very few of them have been listening to what I have been saying.”
The trustee stated that the school board’s job is not economic development, noting it is up to councils and the regional district to create a climate that welcomes industry to the area, which in turn brings families with children.
Zandee said the cuts that have been made over the last number of years have all been made outside of the classroom. He noted that 85 per cent of the district’s budget is wages and benefits, roughly $20.5 million, which leaves about $3.5 million for other supplies and services. On top of that, the district’s projected deficit going forward is $1.4 million, he pointed out.
Zandee said a 50 per cent reduction in supplies and services is unachievable.
The trustee said the board has looked at all of its facilities to find more cuts.
He explained they can’t afford to do anything in the Similkameen due to the potential loss of the small community grants and costs to retrofit Similkameen Elementary Secondary School.
They would also lose more than $100,000 in funding by closing Okanagan Falls Elementary, he added.
“The reality is that Oliver Elementary School (OES) is currently about 80 students short, space wise, to combine the two schools (OES and Tuc-el-Nuit) here in Oliver.”
Zandee said the district does not own portables and does not get funded to purchase them. That is why the combination of OES and Tuc-el-Nuit is not being considered at this time, he noted.
School trustee Rachel Allenbrand said she can absolutely empathize with parents in Osoyoos since she spearheaded a Save Our Schools campaign in Oliver a few years ago.
“It all really boils down to enrolment. We are funded per student and our enrolment is declining. As a result we are in a really tight spot.”
Allenbrand said the board is looking at every option, noting that cost savings thus far have steered away from the classroom. “Any more savings are going to affect classes and students district-wide,” she pointed out.
The trustee said Oliver schools are under capacity, but putting the two elementary schools together would create a school over capacity.
“We do not own portables and would have to purchase these in this scenario, which would be a cost, not a saving.” Allenbrand stressed that the province really needs to address the issue of potential school closures.
“It’s like being stuck between a rock and a hard place, and quite frankly, it’s the province that has put us here.”
Premier Christy Clark and Education Minister Mike Bernier took some heat in the legislature recently about the situation in Osoyoos.
NDP Education Critic Rob Fleming said there will be “huge economic impacts” on the town’s ability to attract and keep businesses and workers.
Bernier said these are tough decisions that need to be made in the face of declining enrolment.
Fleming criticized the Liberals for its poor funding ratio for students, noting it is $1,000 per-student below the Canadian average.
But Bernier claimed his government has increased per-student funding by 42 per cent.
Fleming also made note that MLA Linda Larson has failed to show up at public meetings regarding potential school closures in Osoyoos. He said she hasn’t shown any empathy or offered any ideas to prevent the closures.
But Larson says she is supporting the Osoyoos community and the school board in finding solutions to the issue.
Superintendent of Schools Bev Young said the reality is boards across BC are facing school closures due to declining enrolments and aging facilities.
“We don’t embark on this lightly and certainly not without heavy hearts in considering the impacts to families and communities,” Young said.
She noted the board’s first priority, and its mandate, is to make decisions to support the instruction and achievement of students.
Young said that elementary schools in Oliver will have a combined enrolment of 547 students in 2016/17. This is projected to decrease over the next few years, however, it will still be over or close to the 500 mark, she pointed out.
Having this many students in Oliver Elementary School (after combining Tuc-el-Nuit) will result in educational challenges, Young said, including the displacement of five early-learning programs.
She stated that reconfiguring Southern Okanagan Secondary School into an elementary-secondary school was not thought to be sound or address the challenges that small secondary schools have in continuing to offer robust programs of choice.
On April 6, the board could choose to pass one of the school closure motions (in Osoyoos), or it could reject them or signal a delay, Young said. (Osoyoos is asking for a delay.)
On Monday, the Town of Oliver approved a motion to write a letter of support to the Town of Osoyoos, but councillors agreed that they should not and will not tell the school board how to conduct its business.
“They are an elected body and we should respect that,” said Councillor Maureen Doerr.
LYONEL DOHERTY
Special to the Times
