In a special open board meeting Tuesday School District 27 trustees hinted at the direction they might take when it comes to ratifying or rejecting recommendations for closing and consolidating schools in Williams Lake contained in their Initial Options Report.
The trustees scheduled the meeting to begin open discussions on proposals in the report, taking into consideration input gathered during the recent public consultation process.
But given several in-depth updates and reports from staff and two public question periods, the meeting went into overtime, continuing on for four hours and prompting the trustees to call a second special open board meeting for Thursday, Jan 17 to continue the discussion.
The trustees only had time to voice their opinions on the recommendation to make Columneetza and Williams Lake secondary schools into one grades 7 to 12 secondary school on two campuses.
They didn’t have time to express their opinions on proposals for closing Wildwood, Glendale, and Kwaleen elementary schools which will be the primary focus of discussion tonight.
The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. and opens with a half-hour question period for the public on items on the agenda. Meetings also close with questions from the public on items not on the agenda.
There were about a dozen people in attendance for Tuesday’s meeting.
Several people took the microphone to express concerns about issues such as extra portables needed to support the influx of new students at Cataline, Chilcotin Road and Nesika elementary schools from the schools proposed for closure. There were also concerns expressed about losing the year round program at Glendale elementary, and why the trustees didn’t present alternate options for the one secondary school on two campus model.
One speaker said many parents also felt their concerns were not being heard and that the decisions to close schools had already been made.
Secretary treasurer Bonnie Roller presented a comprehensive update on current enrolment figures along with projected enrolment for 10 years into the future.
Her report also included a comprehensive analysis of bus routes; a detailed financial report on implications and savings for each school proposed for closure; and details on what would be needed to accommodate students at the elementary schools receiving students from the schools proposed for closure.
Superintendent Mark Thiessen presented a detailed report on research staff had done on how Salmon Arm and Dawson Creek operate their one school/two campus secondary programs.
He also presented two options on how the concept might be implemented at Columneetza and Williams Lake secondary schools.
Several trustees spoke in support of the second scenario that would see one campus being a middle school for grades 7 to 9 and the other a senior campus with grades 10 to 12, but still allowing for some travel opportunities between schools for electives, still under the one school/two campus management option.
Trustee Doug Neufeld noted that keeping the one school/two campus model allows for more flexibility when it comes to offering courses for students and movement of teachers to accommodate the programs offered.
Trustee Jackie Austin said she preferred the middle school to be located at the Columneetza campus which is further away from the downtown core than is the WLSS campus.
She noted that parents had expressed concerns about young Grade 7 students having easy access to going downtown unsupervised during their lunch breaks.
After the meeting Neufeld and Boehm concurred with Austin that the middle school should be located on the Columneetza campus.
Boehm also noted that the idea of making Nesika elementary part of Columneetza secondary and consolidating all secondary students on that enlarged campus was rejected by parents in the Our Kids, Our Future public consultations of a few years ago because it would mean making WLSS into one large elementary school.
She and Neufeld noted that parents didn’t like the idea of creating one mega-elementary school that would funnel students into the downtown core.
Neufeld also noted that creating a mega-elementary school would also require the closure of more elementary schools in the Williams Lake bowl area than are currently proposed for closure. He said it was also unlikely that the Ministry of Education would approve of making the city’s newest and specialty equipped secondary school into an elementary school.
All of the reports shared at the Tuesday meeting will be on the district website linked to the latest Initial Options Report update.