School trustees have a 532-page agenda package for Wednesday evening’s special board meeting on closing Osoyoos schools. Much of it is letters from Osoyoos residents, businesses and organizations opposing the proposed closures. We hope the trustees have read every word. (Richard McGuire photo)
School District 53 has released an agenda package of 532 pages for Wednesday night’s special school board meeting to decide on closing an Osoyoos school.
Most of this package contains letters from Osoyoos residents, whose names are blacked out, virtually all of it opposing plans to close either Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS) or Osoyoos Elementary School (OSE).
It also contains notes from meetings the school district had with Osoyoos town council, school staff and the public.
Notes from a March 7 meeting with the town of Osoyoos caught our eye.
They don’t indicate who was doing the talking, but they say council is willing to consider collecting a tax – in co-operation with the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen – to support the schools as a long-term solution.
This is significant because the school district can’t levy taxes, but municipalities can.
Another tidbit is that SD 53 disputes the claim that Osoyoos would be unique as a town this size not having K-12 education.
Peachland, with a population of 5,200 and Rossland with 3,556 based on the 2011 census also don’t have secondary schools.
But trustees may wish to heed the lesson of Rossland, where School District 20 closed Rossland Secondary School in 2013.
Many students opted to attend Seven Summits Centre for Learning in Rossland and others chose home schooling, rather than being bused to Trail.
So the school district saw a significant drop in enrolment, which meant a further drop in provincial funding.
The phenomenon was dubbed “the Rossland effect.”
Fraudster targets library patrons
If you get a phone call from a “collection agency” claiming to be working for Okanagan Regional Library (ORL), be careful.
ORL issued a fraud alert yesterday saying that scam calls have been to residents of the area and the scammer claims to be collecting overdue fees.
“The ORL only uses a collection agency in the event that a member has over $50 in fines due over 90 days, and always follows up with a written account outlining the fees and methods of payment,” ORL’s news release says. “Members are never asked to pay fines over the phone.”
Today ORL sent an update saying one of the people called is not a library member. This suggests the scammer is calling residents of the area, knowing nearly one in three are library members, and there has been no breach of personal data on ORL’s data system.
Ironically, the Oliver Library branch is holding a free fraud awareness workshop Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The speaker is Rick Dellelluur, a representative from the Penticton Downtown Community Police Office.
Week will warm up
Today’s forecast is a mix of sun and cloud and a high of 14 C. The rest of the week will be mainly sunny or sunny with high temperatures ranging from 21 C to 23 C.
The one exception is Saturday, which Environment Canada now says has a 60 per cent chance of showers and a high of just 16 C.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
