Trustee Myrna Coates, of Keremeos, tried to pass a motion to delay the school closure for a year, but when it came to vote, only Trustee June Harrington, of Osoyoos, supported it. She then voted with the two Osoyoos trustees against closure, but the remaining four trustees voted to close Osoyoos Secondary School. (Richard McGuire photo)
School District 53 trustee Myrna Coates earned the loudest applause of the evening when she introduced a motion calling for a one-year delay to close schools in Osoyoos Monday night.
However, the only other trustee to support her was long-time Osoyoos trustee June Harrington and her motion was defeated.
The four trustees who voted in favour of the option to close Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS) and bus students to Southern Okanagan Secondary School in Oliver starting in September – Rob Zandee, Debbie Marten, Rachel Allenbrand and vice-chair Sam Hancheroff – said the board is facing growing budget deficits and the lack of funding from the provincial government forced them to make the difficult decision to close OSS.
Reading from a prepared statement, Coates, who was in tears, said the best option, in her opinion, was for the board to grant a one-year delay on closing any school and look at all cost-savings options presented to the board over the past 10 weeks.
“I think the board should conduct a cost versus benefit analysis of all district facilities … and look at all options that have been presented to the board,” said Coates.
Coates said the past 10 weeks have been a personal emotional rollercoaster for her and her fellow trustees.
“I have not knuckled under (the pressure) and I have listened,” she said.
The residents of Osoyoos have presented numerous excellent options to cut costs and the board should take the time to examine all of them in detail before making any decision over school closures, she said.
“We need time to evaluate the ideas that have been brought forward,” she said.
Keeping all schools open would mean making some very difficult budgeting decisions, but she believes the board could implement many of the options presented and save significant dollars in the process, said Coates.
Harrington supported Coates’ motion and was also emotional when telling the audience why she would vote against closing schools in Osoyoos.
Parents in Osoyoos have made it very clear to her they would not be sending their children to SOSS if the board voted in favour of closing OSS, said Harrington.
Many told her emphatically they would either home-school their kids, send them to private school or start their own independent school in Osoyoos and she believes them, she said.
“We (trustees) are kidding ourselves if we don’t think this will happen,” she said.
Students with special needs and anxiety disorders would suffer many negative experiences having to travel from Osoyoos to Oliver to attend classes, she said.
The majority of students in small schools like OSS enjoy the tight-knit school community that is formed and shipping them off to a much larger school in a different town is scary to many of them, she said.
The right move is to delay any decision on school closures for one year and look at all options to cut costs, while maintaining an excellent quality of education at all district schools, said Harrington.
Hancheroff said he couldn’t support Coates’ motion because the problem of declining enrolment has been a serious problem at OSS for many years.
Hancheroff said he was a trustee back in 2010 when the board warned parents in Osoyoos that OSS could possibly close if enrolment figures didn’t increase dramatically.
“We talked to the community … and made it clear we’ll have problems if things don’t get better,” he said. “We did a lot of talking and explaining … and let everyone know the government is giving us less money each year.
“The time has come now to make a decision.”
Marten said the past 10 weeks have been very difficult for each trustee on the board.
Trustees have the duty of balancing the budget based on inadequate funding from the provincial government and maintaining “the best possible quality of education for students … that is our mandate,” she said.
After Coates’ motion was defeated, Tarr revisited the motion to close OSS.
Hancheroff said the trustees are facing projected deficits of $600,000 for 2016-17, $1.1 million the next school year and $1.3 million in 2018-19 and they are mandated to balance the budget, which means they have to make some very tough choices.
Trustees have managed to find close to $900,000 in savings over the past six years, but it has done little to solve the growing annual deficits, he said.
Tarr said the lack of adequate funding is at the heart of all the problems faced by the board.
“My children attended this school … and I know this is a great school,” she said.
But the board has a duty and responsibility to balance the budget and can’t ignore the growing annual deficits directly related to declining enrolment, she said.
She also realizes that closing OSS would result in young families deciding not to settle in this town, said Tarr.
“With no kindergarten to Grade 12, we’ll see a further drop in enrolment with less families moving to town,” she said.
Tarr also blamed the provincial government for inadequate funding to the education system.
“We are getting less and less funding with each passing year,” she said. “Halfway through the budget cycle, we have the government telling us we have to find more savings. That’s what has put us in this position.”
Marten said the board can’t ignore the fact it’s looking at projected budget deficits over almost $3 million over the next three years.
Zandee laid the blame for the entire school crisis at the door of the provincial government.
Over the last 10 years, the Liberal government hasn’t changed its education funding policies despite repeated calls from educators and trustees about inadequate funding, said Zandee.
“It’s a very difficult situation we see ourselves in,” he said. “It’s been a failure of government … both prior governments over the last 20 years have failed our education system.”
There are only two school districts out of 60 across B.C. that are seeing increasing enrolment and the problem of decreasing enrolment is particularly troublesome in rural B.C., he said.
The government’s recent increase in education funding is simply inadequate as it equates to $52 per student per year and “this simply won’t solve a $1 million deficit,” he said.
Before voting to close OSS, Zandee said “I struggle with this decision, I really do.”
Allenbrand said all trustees swore an oath to provide the best possible education to all students across the district, while being forced to balance the books with student enrolment declining and it remains an exceptionally difficult task.
Being forced to make a decision on closing a school is very difficult for all trustees, she said.
“My heart just breaks every step of the way,” she said. “We have to make a decision for all students … and that’s what makes this so tough.”
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
Okanagan Falls Trustee Sam Hancheroff blamed provincial funding, but he argued that the school closure issue came up in 2010 and not enough was done by the community since to address the original problems, which have worsened. He voted against the motion to delay the decision for a year and for the motion to close Osoyoos Secondary School. Chair Marieze Tarr said parents didn’t want the uncertainly of a delay, so she voted against it. After speaking on both sides of the issue, in the end she voted against the school closure. (Richard McGuire photo)
All the school trustees arrived together, except for June Harrington, who came separately. They slipped in by the gymnasium entrance, avoiding the crowd at the theatre door. (Richard McGuire photo)
Trustees take their seats at the very back of the stage as they prepare to vote on closing Osoyoos Secondary School. (Richard McGuire photo)
Oliver trustees Rob Zandee and Rachel Allenbrand voted to close Osoyoos Secondary School. Allenbrand expressed emotion when she spoke to her decision. (Richard McGuire photo)
Osoyoos trustee June Harrington speaks in support of keeping Osoyoos Secondary School open. Keremeos trustee Myrna Coates won a standing ovation when she delivered emotional comments in support of keeping the schools open for another year to allow a solution to be found. (Richard McGuire photo)
School Board Chair Marieze Tarr made a number of arguments in support of closing OSS, while expressing some misgivings about the negative impact of busing students to Oliver. In the end, she voted in support of her community, but trustees from other communities carried the 4-3 vote. (Richard McGuire photo)
Osoyoos trustee June Harrington was the only trustee to consistently oppose closure of Osoyoos schools since the board vote in January. (Richard McGuire photo)
