Clutching a clipboard with almost 300 signatures gathered from students and the public opposing the closure of Osoyoos high school, Marina Hiebert let out a sigh.
The Grade 12 student’s gasp was one of relief after School District 53 trustees voted unanimously to not go forward with a proposed plan to close Osoyoos Secondary School.
“When you close a school, you close a town. If you close your high school it gives no reason for people to move here. Some people even said they would move away. Eventually, it would become a ghost town,” said Hiebert, who was elected prime minister of the school this year. “Our school has such a good community feeling and we shouldn’t have to get rid of that to save money.”
School District 53 is in a budget crisis brought on by Ministry of Education cutbacks. Currently the district receives $875,843 of funding protection from the government, but the ministry signalled to districts that funding would be removed — likely over a period of three years. Closing the Osoyoos high school, which faces declining enrolment, and busing students to South Okanagan Secondary in Oliver for the 2012-2013 school year would have saved the most money ($725,088) out of a number of proposed cutbacks in the school district’s budget.
“I do not think at this stage education and economic benefits are going to outweigh the negative benefits it will have on our town and to our students if we close that school,” said Osoyoos trustee Marieze Tarr. “I believe we have to, with some urgency, find some solution to work with the town.”
While the school is safe from closure now, it does not mean the issue won’t be back in front of the trustees at the next budget.
“I think it is up to everybody here to pay attention to the red bouncing ball and start working together to see what we can do over this declining enrolment because I think it is in gear and it is going to keep happening. It is up to the town council, the parents and the school trustees to make sure we don’t have to repeat this two years from now,” said Osoyoos Mayor Stu Wells.
Between 2001 and 2010 the school district lost 329 secondary students, and it is projected by 2015 the secondary student population will decrease by another 163 students. One of the greatest challenges the board faces is the depth and breadth of course offerings at the secondary school level, a side effect of low enrolment. Trustee Sam Hancheroff said he does not like closing schools, but wanted the proposal to move to the next level to continue the discussion on how to service the students better.
“We need to get their appetite wet with knowledge so that when they finish they have opportunities. Are we gong to be able to provide that? I sure hope we are,” said Hancheroff, who ended up voting with the rest of the board to not pursue the proposal of closing the school.
Chairperson June Harrington responded that OSS has graduated students that have become teachers, nurses, doctors, scientists, authors and accountants.
“Does this sound like we are unable to offer what students need? I don’t think so,” said Harrington.
Proposed options for review that received support to go to the next level and get feedback from the community include closing Oliver’s Tuc El Nuit Elementary School to amalgamate it with Oliver Elementary School by June 2012 and to find a solution to relocate the Osoyoos YouLearn.ca program. The school board also unanimously voted against moving Grade 4 students to Similkameen Elementary Secondary School.