Students hold up signs calling for Osoyoos Secondary School to be kept open last February when the school was threatened with closure. The province eventually provided funding to keep rural schools open, but the funding system is under review. Town council reaffirmed Monday it is committed to ensuring rural schools like OSS remain open as the Ministry of Education is undertaking a review of current practices and funding models for rural education in B.C. (Richard McGuire file photo)
Town of Osoyoos council wants to ensure practices and policies are put in place through the Ministry of Education to ensure rural schools like Osoyoos Secondary School will remain open now and in the future.
At Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, the town’s Chief Administrative Officer Barry Romanko told council that the Ministry of Education is undertaking a review of education practices and rural education funding, led by Parliamentary Secretary and Boundary-Similkameen MLA Linda Larson.
“The Ministry is seeking feedback from local government on the greatest challenges and barriers in rural education,” said Romanko.
Romanko said he met with School District 53 Superintendent Bev Young last week and several challenges were identified as a priority relating to rural schools in B.C.
Those challenges included:
1) Per student funding formula/enrolment decline funding protection and secondary school funding based on the number of courses offered.
“These funding formulates promote consolidation and don’t enable school boards to take advantage of education opportunities when funding arrives in February or March,” said Romanko. “The recommendation is to explore a funding option that is linked to the number of facilities that are needed to be operated and student enrolment with a base granting system.”
2) Staff recruitment and retention.
“Smaller schools relay on teachers teaching a number of subject areas and don’t enable teachers to focus on their specialties,” said Romanko. “Teachers prefer to go where they can focus on their specialty areas, leaving recruitment struggles in areas such as early education, special education and teacher leaders.
“The recommendation would be to provide forgivable loans to teachers who teach in rural areas or to consider some type of grant programs that currently exist for northern schools.”
3) Creating viable employment for custodial or administrative support.
“Currently funding levels enable only part-time employment,” he said.
4) Lack of mental health support.
“Mental health support services are needed for many students and access to contract professionals is very limited in rural areas.”
5) Facility funding.
“Currently, amounts for facility improvement and operating grants are tied to school population,” said Romanko. “Lack of funding requires focus on priority life safety improvements and doesn’t allow for preventative maintenance.”
In addition to the issues identified above, council may also wish to put forward the issues related to school closure processes and school board governance, said Romanko.
“Council presented the need to consider local schools as more than education facilities,” he said. “Schools are a core service that support social and economic community sustainability. Therefore, school boards need to make decision in a more collegial and integrated community model.”
Council has already put forth numerous recommendations since the Ministry of Education provided $500,000 in funding to keep Osoyoos Secondary School open through the Rural Education Enhancement Fund (REEF), said Romanko.
Those recommendations included:
1. Provincial regulation on what constitutes consultation in any school closure decision.
2. Establishing a minimum one year consultation period before any rural school is considered for closure.
3. Future use of any school facility must be determined prior to closure.
4. School closures affecting community sustainability must have provincial approval.
5. Any approval on school closures must have a minimum of two-thirds majority of the board of trustees rather than the current simple majority.
6. Review governance and mandate of regional schools to ensure five-year capital planning, program delivery and school facility sustainability; and mandate a minimum annual consultation with municipalities relating to school facilities to discuss school programs and sustainability.
Mayor Sue McKortoff said she’s pleased the Town has committed to working more closely with the Ministry of Education and School District to ensure rural schools remain open now and in the future.
“I think that it’s imperative that we comment on education seeing as this was such a huge issue in this district, in Osoyoos particularly,” she said.
Coun. Mike Campol said the Town has committed to sending at least one member of council to every School District 53 meeting over the past several months and will do everything in its power to ensure the enmity surrounding last year’s pending closure of OSS won’t happen again.
“We made a commitment upon reversing the closure of our school to stay engaged and stay informed and we’ve done that to this point by ensuring we have representation at every meeting that’s taken place since,” he said. “I think it’s important that any opportunity that we have to engage, give feedback or engage at any level is one that we should absolutely take.”
McKortoff said closing the only high school in a small town like Osoyoos would have devastating social and economic consequences for generations.
“Closing the only high school in a town of 5,000 makes no sense,” she said.
Council voted unanimously in favour of having Romanko draft a letter to Larson and the Ministry of Education detailing their concerns and recommendations and ensuring rural schools like OSS remain open now and in the future.
Romanko said he would also enclose the slide show presented by members of town council during last fall’s Union of B.C. Municipalities conference relating to the extensive efforts made by community members to keep OSS open.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
