Dear Editor:

Is it just me or is anyone else bemused by the conflicting and inconsistent statements made by the superintendent of School District 53 and the Ministry of Education regarding the capacity of SOSS in last week’s article in the Osoyoos Times under the headline, “SD53 Denies OSS Closure Was Condition for 700 Capacity at SOSS?”

The ministry and the superintendent do not agree on when the capacity for the renovated school was determined.

Superintendent Bev Young insists that the project started in 2005 and that the 700 capacity was appropriate since enrolment at SOSS was “around 600.”

The Ministry of Education spokesperson states, “The capacity was determined based on current and forecast enrolment at the time of project development in 2009.”

While the school district may have approached the ministry in 2005 about the necessity of renovations at SOSS, Greyback Construction Ltd. was not awarded the capital project contract until June 10, 2010.

Chances are the ministry would have considered existing enrolment and not that of 2005 when it approved the capital project in 2009.

Nevertheless, Oliver had just experienced a precipitous drop in enrolment between 2005 and 2009 and the school board was projecting this decline to continue.

If the ministry was looking at “current and forecast enrolment” in 2009, it would have seen this sharp decrease. Unless, of course, due diligence is not the purview of the Ministry of Education.

And that is exactly what the superintendent suggests when she talks about the ministry approving the rebuild of 550 after the fire in 2011. Young states, “[…] that’s what was approved by the ministry.  We certainly didn’t argue with them.”  She then goes on to say, “I mean we didn’t know about future growth.”

Future growth? What future growth?

In 2010, the school board was projecting a steep decline in enrolment.

The only possible future growth at SOSS could be the influx of OSS students after the closure of their school.

Young asserts that the process to determine a school’s capacity is “complex” and that “there is an onerous gathering of stats and information.”

This leads me to believe that either this process was neglected or the closure of OSS played a key role in the determination of capacity at SOSS. Either someone didn’t do their job or someone is being disingenuous.

Robin Stille

Osoyoos, B.C.