Osoyoos Secondary School will close on June 30 after School District 53 trustees voted in favour to shut the doors to avoid a deficit budget.
Trustees voted 4-3 at a special meeting on Wednesday to close the school and bus 250 students in grades 8 to 12 to the Southern Okanagan Secondary School in Oliver. Final reading of the bylaw will take place on April 17 at the regular school board meeting.
“Our school is a family, not just a building,” said Brenda Dorosz, chair of the Save our School committee. “My son is graduating this year and he is very upset for his fellow students. Last night there were a lot of tears flowing after from kids.”
Vice-chair Sam Hancheroff and trustees Rachel Allenbrand, Debbie Marten and Rob Zandee voted in favour of closing the school citing declining enrolment and lack of funding as major motivators. June Harrington, Myrna Coates and board chair Marieze Tarr voted against.
Dorosz, who formed the Save our School committee soon after the initial motion from trustees on potential school closures, said parents are now investigating opening an independent school in Osoyoos.
“We will have our application submitted by May 1. We are gathering experts in our community to help with the application process and to find a building to secure. We are hellbent on having it running by September,” said Dorosz. “I have already got a call in to the minister of education to take over the lease of the current high school and to find out the options available to us.”
Dorosz said in a survey she completed during the consultation process, after the school district put forward two motions on potential school closures in January, 40 per cent of parents said they would pull their kids out of the district if schools closed.
“If that survey in theory is correct then 40 per cent is a huge number of kids. There are 555 kids in public education and even if we take 300 of those out that is a huge impact,” she said.
Dorosz was surprised by the results of Wednesday’s vote and she was expecting them to delay the idea of closing for at least a year. That motion was defeated 5-2.
In addition to investigating an independent school opening in Osoyoos, she said parents are also considering other options rather than bussing their children to Oliver. Those include potentially attending school in Oroville, Wash. and homeschooling through distance education programs in Penticton or Kelowna. Dorosz said she has talked to the principal in Oroville and kids could be admitted through an international student program. She added it would come with an $8,000 price tag per student that parents would have to pay, although they are looking to see if funding is available to assist with those costs.
Boundary-Similkameen MLA Linda Larson issued a statement on Thursday in response to the decision by the school board. She said as it is a local issue she must respect the school board is doing what it believes is best for students and the district.
"From personal experience I understand the deep connections we have to our community schools," said Larson. "This has been an emotional, gut-wrenching process for the citizens of Osoyoos, but I am confident it will result in better educational outcomes for our students, and Osoyoos will remain one of the best places in Canada to live."