Closing Osoyoos Secondary School still won’t be enough to address the school district’s burgeoning deficit. But on April 26, teachers, principals and trustees brainstormed more ideas to lessen the impact of a nearly $1 million projected funding shortfall.

The budget meeting began with Secretary-Treasurer Lynda Minnabarriet showing a projected decline in enrolment from 2,223 students in 2015/16 to 2,111 in 2019/20.

It was reported that closing Osoyoos Secondary will save the district $387,000, but more savings will have to be found to address the remaining shortfall.

The board introduced a number of recommended budget reductions including: increasing student/teacher ratios in secondary schools for a saving of $160,000; reducing YouLearn staffing and budget, saving $100,000; reducing administration time (principals teaching more), saving $81,000; reducing supplies and services by five percent (saving $80,000); reducing gifted teacher allocation, saving $20,000; and implementing district clerical reductions, saving $15,000. The total savings of recommended budget reductions is $514,000.

If the board didn’t close Osoyoos Secondary, it would need to look at further reductions, such as reducing library teacher formulas, custodial staffing, school secretary formulas, and leadership development.

It was explained that increasing student/teacher ratios would reduce teaching time.

Minnabarriet said the greater the number of students to one teacher, the fewer teachers you need, therefore, less cost to the board.

Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff reiterated to the board that the town believes it has the solution in offering the district $1 million to keep the school open.

“We have $350,000 that we can give you tomorrow,” she said.

But in a previous letter to the town, the board declined the offer for several reasons.

Osoyoos town councillor Carol Youngberg said closing the high school would “crush” the community and impact the entire district, not just Osoyoos.

Youngberg said the town’s offer to the board was a “golden opportunity.” But last Wednesday night the board gave final approval (4-3) to close the school.

Round tables were set up at the Tuesday meeting so that people could brainstorm ideas of how the board could save money or what items should be reviewed before budget adoption in June.

Several groups suggested adopting a four-day school week, while others agreed with increasing student/teacher ratios.

Other ideas included: lobby the province for more money; review the offer from the town; look at international student opportunities; eliminate the gifted program; and look for more grant money.

Marcus Toneatto, principal of Southern Okanagan Secondary School, said looking for more savings is like “trying to squeeze blood from a stone.”

Minnabarriet said the board will consider all of these ideas, including the four-day school week.

In the meantime, work is underway to transition Osoyoos high school students to Oliver.

By Lyonel Doherty