A visibly upset Brenda Dorosz from Save Our Schools addresses the board after the vote to close Osoyoos Secondary School. Photo by Richard McGuire
In the end, the pleading, threats and long list of cost-saving options presented to School District 53 trustees by literally thousands of parents, students, teachers and residents of Osoyoos weren’t enough.
After two community input forums were organized by the school district – one in February and a second in March – that attracted close to 2,000 residents, it was no surprise that the Osoyoos Secondary School Community Theatre was jammed to capacity and standing room only Wednesday night when trustees voted 4-3 to close Osoyoos Secondary School.
The theatre has seating for 234 and every seat was filled while two or three dozen more local residents stood along the walls inside the theatre during the tense and emotion-filled 90-minute meeting.
Another crowd of more than 100 residents waited outside awaiting words on the board’s decision.
As was the case at both community input meetings – the first attracted more than 1,000 people to the gymnasium at OSS and the second had close to 800 people inside the Sonora Community Centre gymnasium – local residents pleaded with the board to keep OSS open and promised to work together to find solutions to save money to balance the district’s budget.
Penny Duperon was the first of eight speakers who were given the opportunity to make presentations to the board before they tabled the motion to consider closing OSS.
Duperon said she believes the board hadn’t put enough consideration into the many problems that would be caused by busing more than 250 students from Osoyoos to Oliver 185 times each school year.
“There will be a significantly increase potential for bullying,” she said. “We can’t put our heads in the sand … we know this will happen.”
It’s also a reality that busing this many students over the course of a school year will dramatically increase the odds of a school bus getting into a serious accident, she said.
Brenda Dorosz, the founder of the Save Our Schools committee that was formed after trustees announced in early January that they would be looking at closing schools in Osoyoos, said the Ministry of Education has indicated a willingness to increase education funding and she believes significant funding increases will be forthcoming with a provincial election set for next fall.
“I think there will be more funding coming … and that extra funding will make a difference,” she said.
Dorosz said 40 per cent of hundreds of parents she interviewed made it clear they will remove their students from School District 53 if the trustees vote to close OSS.
“Our kids are staying right here in Osoyoos,” she said. “Forty per cent said they will leave the school district. That is a reality.”
Angele Poelera said singling out Osoyoos for school closures when declining enrolment is a district-wide problem is unfair and trustees have to consider all options before closing a school.
“You need to look at every opportunity to save money … you need to be creative,” she said.
Martin Sadd said he’s convinced if MLA Linda Larson lived in Osoyoos, there would not have been any discussion about closing a school in this town.
When Southern Okanagan Secondary School was rebuilt after fire destroyed the school five years ago, it increased its capacity by more than 200 and he believes there has been a plan to close OSS for some time.
“How can you justify building a school of that size in a community (Oliver) with declining population?” he asked. “It is beyond my comprehension.”
The trustees have been given numerous viable options to cut costs and all should be looked at before any final decision to close any school is made, said Sadd.
“Please remember, there is always another way,” he said.
Town councillor Carol Youngberg, who has lived in Osoyoos and sold real estate for more than 35 years, echoed the same thoughts saying all options must be explored before closing a school and causing irreparable damage to a small town like Osoyoos.
Education Minister Mike Bernier has recently discussed a willingness to address education funding inadequacies and handed out an extra $28 million in funding in the recent provincial budget, said Youngberg.
Michelle Nehring, the president of the OSS Parents Advisory Council, said the devastation caused by closing the high school would be far reaching.
“This community needs kindergarten to (Grade) 12 education,” she said. “I think it’s mandatory.”
She urged the trustees to delay any school closures for one year and look at the many viable options it has been presented over the past 10 weeks.
By Keith Lacey
