Dear Editor:
I am a former resident of Osoyoos who is deeply troubled by the recent proposal by the board of trustees of School District 53 to close schools in Osoyoos.
I have been doing some research and I would like you to consider a newspaper story about the financial situation in School District 53.
Here are some troubling statistics:
• Statement of Financial Information (June 30, 2015) shows 15 principals or vice principals for eight schools in the district.
All but one principal earns over $100K annually with the highest being the principal of SOSS earning over $114K annually.
With a $530K structural deficit in this fiscal year, why are they not considering eliminating some of these high paid administration positions instead of closing schools?
• In the 2016 budget, they show an increase in salary expenses for educational assistants from 1.37 million in 2105 to 1.44 million.
How do they justify a $70K increase in spending in this area while experiencing declining enrolment and proposing the closure of schools?
Eliminating some of these positions could erase the structural deficit. There is no need to close schools in Osoyoos.
• Why did they build a new secondary school in Oliver with a capacity of 700 students when their own projections show that they don’t need this high of a capacity.
Currently there are only 431 students at SOSS (utilization 61 per cent). Osoyoos Secondary has 230 students with a capacity of 325 (71 per cent utilization). It seems that SD53 misspent funds to build a bigger school than needed in Oliver and now they have to justify their spending by filling it with students from Osoyoos.
I hope the financial story gets out to those who need to know.
Lastly, it seems completely unfair that Osoyoos suffers all the losses in this situation while Oliver is completely unaffected.
Under the scenario being considered by the school board, all three schools stay open as usual in Oliver and, with no secondary school in Osoyoos, new residents with children are much more likely to settle in Oliver, thereby increasing property values in that community.
Oliver has win-win here. It’s just not right.
Links to my information sources are below:
https://www.sd53.bc.ca/district/osoyoos/SD53%20Facilities%20Report%20PPT%20Jan%2013%202016.pdf
https://www.sd53.bc.ca/district/financial/2015-16%20Annual%20Budget%20Final.pdf
https://www.sd53.bc.ca/district/financial/Statement%20of%20Financial%20Position%20June%2030%202015
Wayne Rubner
Former Osoyoos resident
