Nearly 1,000 people packed into the gymnasium at Osoyoos Secondary School, as well as the mezzanine above, to show their support for keeping Osoyoos schools open. (Richard McGuire photo)
The applause was so loud inside the Osoyoos Secondary School gymnasium Tuesday night that the reverberations might have been heard all the way to Oliver, where hundreds of students made very clear they don’t want to go if Osoyoos Secondary School were closed.
Former Osoyoos mayor Stu Wells received a rapturous standing ovation from a crowd estimated at about 1,000 local residents after telling the board of trustees with School District (SD) 53 that they must reconsider their position to close Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS) or Osoyoos Elementary School (OSE).
After a 40-minute presentation by school district superintendent Bev Young and secretary-treasurer Lynda Minnabarriet about the financial deficit the board has to deal with leading to the decision to close one of the two schools in Osoyoos, Wells lashed out.
“Your slide show was very slick and clearly led to this recommendation,” said an obviously emotional Wells. “But I never once heard the word ‘student’.”
Wells told the current trustees that he served as a trustee with two different school boards over 11 years and the decision to close a school in a small community would never have been considered.
School board trustees are elected officials, but the majority of the current trustees were not elected by residents of Osoyoos and should not have the power to close a school in this community, said Wells, who received one of many standing ovations over the course of the three-and-a-half hour meeting,
“The people in our town didn’t vote for anyone from Keremeos or Cawston or Okanagan Falls,” he said. “I don’t think you should have the authority (to close schools).”
The proposed deadline to make a decision on closing a school in Osoyoos is early April and that makes no sense whatsoever considering the importance of this decision, said Wells.
“The deadline being proposed here is ridiculous,” he said. “Give us the time” to come up with alternative solutions to keep all schools in the district open, while tackling the financial deficit the board is facing.
The only people who should have the power to close a school in a small town like Osoyoos is Education Minister Mike Bernier or Premier Christy Clark and they should have to come to our community to defend their decision, said Wells.
On Jan. 13, the board of trustees adopted two motions supporting options presented by senior school district staff to deal with a looming budget crisis the board says is directly caused by continued declining enrolment, insufficient provincial funding and increased classroom capacity.
The only two proposals approved by the board at the Jan. 13 meeting were:
- Close OSS and transfer all 240 students to Southern Okanagan Secondary School in Oliver.
- Close OSE and transfer the 340 students currently enrolled to OSS, making it a Kindergarten to Grade 8 school and transfer Grades 10-12 to SOSS.
More than three dozen teachers, parents, municipal politicians, OSS and OSE students and local residents urged, pleaded, lectured, yelled at and spoke from their heart about how closing either school in Osoyoos would be devastating to this community.
Many suggested new families wouldn’t settle here, while others stated emphatically they would consider moving.
Many current students said they would be devastated for numerous reasons to have to travel to Oliver to attend school.
Current Mayor Sue McKortoff was the first speaker to step up to the microphone after the presentation by Young and Minnabarriet.
McKortoff, who was a teacher at OSS for 34 years before retiring, said there are numerous options the board must consider and adopt rather than closing schools.
“It would not only affect the students … but it would have a profound impact on the wellbeing of our town,” she said.
Local businesses would suffer immensely if either school was closed and our reputation as a mecca for tourism would be adversely affected, said McKortoff.
“How can we offer Canada’s Warmest Welcome when we’re all thinking about schools closing?” she asked rhetorically.
There was basically no consultation between the board of trustees and town council or senior administration before the decision to propose closing one of the schools in Osoyoos was made, said McKortoff.
McKortoff said it’s beyond frustrating that the board’s final recommendations targeted the closure of schools in Osoyoos and reiterated there are numerous options that must be explored and adopted before any school is closed.
“We encourage our kids to become creative problem solvers … we ask you to do the same,” said McKortoff. “Closing any school should be the absolute last option.”
Peter Gajda, who has been a secondary school teacher for 23 years, including the past 11 at OSS, told the trustees he understands they have a duty and legal responsibility to balance budgets.
However, he said there are innumerable options available that can achieve those financial requirements that are much more acceptable than closing either school in Osoyoos.
“As long as you have options, there is no need to be desperate,” said Gajda.
Brenda Dorosz, the founder of the Save Our Schools (SOS), also received thunderous applause when she said her group has gathered 3,300 signatures on a local petition demanding both schools in Osoyoos remain open.
A survey that members of her group conducted clearly shows a majority of small business owners and hotel owners in Osoyoos would feel severe negative financial repercussions if either school closed in town, she said.
Dorosz said she personally called Bernier’s executive assistant and he made it clear to her that the April deadline could easily be extended allowing more time before any final decision on school closures is made.
All options, including four-day school weeks that have proven successful in reducing costs in other school districts, must be examined, said Dorosz.
There are18 full-time staff that work out of the SD 53 head office in Oliver and 15 principals and vice-principals for eight schools spread across the district, she said.
Cutting senior administration would achieve significant savings and is a far better option than closing schools, said Dorosz to another standing ovation.
A four-day school week could save up to $500,000 annually, reducing school board staff would save another $300,000 and making principals be in charge of running two schools, as is done in many other jurisdictions, would save another $300,000, said Dorosz.
Another viable option is eliminating the Network Leader program at cost savings of more than $200,000, she said.
Dorosz suggested to the trustees the option to close schools in Osoyoos was made in large part because “no (school district) senior staff live or own property in Osoyoos.
“Do you really care about Osoyoos?”
Dorosz warned that closing either school would destroy this community.
“It won’t only close our school, it will close our town,” she said. “We can keep every school open and provide the best education to every student in our district.”
Clint Hawes, a longtime Osoyoos resident, said cutting senior administration is a far better solution than closing a school and devastating an entire community.
“I would say this is a slam dunk,” he said. “Why not cut high paid senior administration rather than closing schools. I pray you don’t let all of this that’s happened tonight fall on deaf ears.”
Andrew Stuckey, a communications specialist, urged the board to “stand up to the province” and present an unbalanced budget that recommends no school closures.
The provincial government wouldn’t have the guts to fire the board for making such a decision and local residents would line up en masse to support them, said Stuckey.
“If you were to stand up to the ministry, other boards across the province would stand with you,” he said.
Jason Bartsch, a well-known Osoyoos dentist and longtime community volunteer, said the board must look at all options presented by those in attendance rather than close any school in Osoyoos.
“The notion of closing a school is terrifying at best,” he said.
Osoyoos would not be able to attract young families to this community if either school closed and this would devastate the local economy and any future plans to grow and develop this town, said Bartsch.
“I’m not confident that every option has been looked at,” he said. “Closing a school should only be used as the ultimate and final last resort.”
Bartsch also agreed the April deadline to make a final decision by the board is far too short and should be extended.
“We need more time to figure out solutions,” he said. “But this board appears unwilling to look at other viable options.”
The meeting that was originally scheduled for two hours ended up lasting about three-and-a-half hours.
A second community pubic input meeting for Osoyoos is set to take place at OSE on Tuesday, March 8 at 7 p.m.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
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)
Mayor Sue McKortoff and Councillor Mike Campol listen intently to a presentation by school district officials explaining the rationale for looking at closing one of the Osoyoos schools. McKortoff later got up to express strong opposition to the closures. (Richard McGuire photo)
A number of Osoyoos Secondary students showed up at the consultation meeting to express support for their school. Some held signs and wore their sports team jerseys. (Richard McGuire photo)
School district superintendent Bev Young gave a slide presentation explaining the reasons why the district faces a financial crunch. (Richard McGuire photo)
Second to speak after Mayor Sue McKortoff was OSS teacher Peter Gajda. Also waiting for a chance to speak (from left) are Kuldeep Rai, Brenda Dorosz, Michelle Nehring, David Smith and former Osoyoos mayor Stu Wells. (Richard McGuire photo)
Former Osoyoos mayor Stu Wells, once a school trustee, delivered a blistering statement arguing that closing a school should not be a decision by the school board. Instead, Education Minister Mike Bernier and Premier Christy Clark should make the decision and come to Osoyoos to explain themselves. (Richard McGuire photo)
Michelle Nehring, president of the OSS parent advisory council, tells trustees about the impact the school closing would have on students. Behind her, waiting for their turn to speak (from left) are Robin Stille, Kuldeep Rai and Brenda Dorosz. (Richard McGuire photo)
Brenda Dorosz, chair of the citizens’ group Save Our Schools (SOS) delivered a well-researched, powerful presentation pointing to administrative savings the school district could make instead of closing schools. She also revealed accident statistics from ICBC pointing to the likelihood of tragic accidents if more students drive to school. (Richard McGuire photo)
School District 53 administration took heat from a number of Osoyoos residents. From left are Bev Young, superintendent; Lynda Minnabarriet, treasurer; Deb Sansome, director of facilities; and Merrill Bjerkan, executive assistant. (Richard McGuire photo)
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)
Members of the community, including former mayor Stu Wells (second from right), leapt to their feet to give strong applause to Brenda Dorosz, chair of the citizens’ group Save Our Schools. (Richard McGuire photo)
Kuldeep Rai, who collected about 500 signatures against the closing from the Indo-Canadian community, spoke about the impact a school closing would have. She concluded with brief remarks in Punjabi. (Richard McGuire photo)
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)
The school district hoped to wrap up the meeting by 9 p.m., but shown here there were still many people lined up at the mic at 9:10 p.m. The meeting didn’t end until nearly 10:30 p.m. as more and more people kept stepping up when the line-up got shorter. (Richard McGuire photo)
Osoyoos dentist Jason Bartsch argued that closing OSS would make it much harder to attract younger families to the community, and many already here could choose to leave. (Richard McGuire photo)
Local developer David Perehudoff argued that bringing affordable housing to Osoyoos would help to attract young families and boost enrolments. When he started talking about his own development projects and asking people to support him, he was quickly shot down by Councillor Mike Campol, who told him this was the wrong place to be pitching his developments. (Richard McGuire photo)
