Kootenays (Kootenay Columbia, Southeast Kootenay, Kootenay Lake, Arrow Lakes)

School boards and communities are exploring many options to save their local schools and education services in these small rural districts. In 2010, SD #20 (Kootenay Columbia) discussed a merger with neighbouring Kootenay Lake and Arrow Lakes school districts to cut administrative costs. Meanwhile, several local communities have come together to launch SOS campaigns to save their public schools. Some are exploring options like “Neighbourhoods of Learning” models to subsidize costs by sharing space with other compatible community uses – highlighting the importance of local public schools as the heart of any community:

Advocacy

A terrific U-Tube video produced by RSS student Maddie Snelgrove has highlighted the ongoing campaign to save Rossland Secondary School:

Rossland – a Vision for Small Schools: A community website dedicated to advocating for public K-12 education in Rossland, BC

DPAC letter campaign: In spring 2010, Arrow Lakes DPAC and local PACs encouraged parents to send letters to the Education Minister expressing concern about the impact of education cuts on students. Download a copy of the letter

Save BC schools.ca: PACs in the Slocan Valley came together in 2010 to create a new website to support networking and advocacy among groups fighting to stop school closures, locally and across BC.

2011 News

Kootenay News Advertiser: SD 5 passes budget – no cuts to programs despite shortfall

June 18, 2011

School District 5 Trustees passed a balanced budget at last week’s board meeting in Cranbrook. The board was facing a net funding shortfall of $1,050,000 for next year’s budget, which follows last year’s shortfall of $993,000 according to SD5 board chair Frank Lento.

“While very little has changed in the way of enrolment projections or programming needs we find ourselves – once again – with less money this year than we had last year. It puts us in the difficult position of Funding Protection from the Education Ministry for the coming school year.”

Funding Protection is an additional amount provided to school districts to ensure funding levels for the upcoming fall are at least equal to the funding levels received last autumn. Funding Protection is currently under review by the Ministry of Education and has not been confirmed for future years.

Trustee Chris Johns points out that the current funding formula for districts works fine in a world where prices never go up, but that’s not the world in which we live. Read more

The Townsman: School budget grows ever tighter

June 16, 2011

A budget for School District 5 was approved by the board of trustees on Tuesday, June 14.

Cuts in provincial funding meant the board was facing a net funding shortfall of $1,050,000 for next year’s budget, which follows last year’s shortfall of $993,000 according to SD5 Board Chair Frank Lento.

“While very little has changed in the way of enrolment projections or programming needs, we find ourselves – once again – with less money this year than we had last year. It puts us in the difficult position of Funding Protection from the Education Ministry for the coming school year.”

Funding Protection is an additional amount provided to school districts to ensure funding levels for the upcoming fall are at least equal to the funding levels received last autumn. Funding Protection is currently under review by the Ministry of Education and has not been confirmed for future years. Read more

2010 news

Trail Daily Times: Cuts compel MP to speak out

March 18, 2011

MP Alex Atamanenko

I read the March 11 story  in your paper that mentions my letter to the provincial minister of education (MP’s Letter to Education Minister Panned by Trail-area Trustees).

Normally I do not involve myself in provincial matters, however upon receipt of a letter from Rossland citizens and after consulting with our MLA, the chair of the school district as well as the mayors of Rossland, Castlegar and Trail, I decided that I had to speak out.

No one had previously approached me in regard to the concept raised earlier regarding Webster and Glenmerry schools. I was approached by concerned citizens in Beaverdell awhile ago and, in consultation with the school district and their MLA John Slater, wrote a letter to the minister on their behalf.

We are having this discussion as a result of decisions made by a provincial government that has not and does not properly support public education. Since the current B.C. Liberal government was elected in 2001, it has chosen to shut down hospitals and schools and, simultaneously cut major funding to school programs throughout the province.

This has resulted in a shell game of budgetary explanations from the beginning, with the government stating that public education is receiving a growing percentage of the overall budget.

The untold part of that story is that many other ministries and departments have received larger cuts or have been closed altogether so that these kind of claims are more like smoke and mirrors than the reality that those of us involved in the public education system in any capacity are experiencing.

That is why I am asking the provincial government to review urban/rural funding for schools and to ensure that our small rural communities remain vibrant, innovative and viable places to live. Read more

Trail Daily Times: Rosslanders show up in force to save RSS

Jim Bailey – Trail Daily Times

March 4, 2011

A capacity crowd turned out at Rossland Secondary School Wednesday to voice concerns over the recommended school closure.

Almost 200 people attended the second of three “planning for the future” workshops, a public consultation forum to help the board of education determine budget priorities for School District 20. Read more

The Castlegar Source: MP advocates for schools

17 February 2011

Local MP Alex Atamanenko’s open letter to the Education Minister:

Dear Minister MacDiarmid,

As you are no doubt aware, there is a discussion in School District #20 about the possible closure of Rossland Secondary and Blueberry Community School.

This is taking place as a result of some very difficult budget considerations that School District #20 is facing. It is imperative that our provincial government explore new and creative ways of arriving at funding formulas, especially concerning our rural schools.

There needs to be a service review of urban/rural funding for schools.

You can imagine the hardship small rural communities face when confronted with the possibility of school closures. This often results in families moving away and others choosing not to settle in a community because of a lack of educational opportunities for their children.

Our communities of Trail, Rossland and Castlegar are endeavouring to do what is best for their citizens. Read more

7 November 2010

An unwelcoming sign is looming over the future of Rossland schools. History is repeating itself and once again, our schools are having the threat of closure being thrust upon them. Read more

Castlegar News: Guardian worried about special needs support

September 22, 2010

Kim Magi, Castlegar News

A Castlegar parent is becoming increasingly frustrated after he was told his great nephew with special needs wouldn’t receive more one-on-one assistance at school this year.

“[The school district] told me my expectations were too high,” said Ken Hillstead, who is the guardian for his great nephew, a Grade 9 student at Stanley Humphries Secondary School (SHSS).

He said the young man suffers from attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and can become over-stimulated in school, causing him to act out, and often needs to be accompanied to his next class or during breaks.

But because the educational assistants are stretched so thin at the school, Hillstead was told that each child with special needs would only receive 15 minutes of one-on-one time. Read more

Trail Daily Times: Teacher bikes across BC for students

July 26, 2010

A former Rossland resident is taking some unconventional big steps to raise awareness to the plight of B.C.’s educational system – 3,000 steps, in fact.

Tulani Ackerman started Steps for Students after teaching in Prince Rupert the past three years. The organization addresses concerns with cutbacks to education, school closures and changes to the curriculum in an effort to create a more positive future for B.C. students.

Ackerman is biking/walking 3,000 kilometres across B.C. to raise awareness and hear ideas and suggestions on how to improve the educational system.

“I’m hoping to discover other effective ways to meet the needs of our children and along the route, I’m hoping to regain confidence in the education system for our parents, teachers, students and others to believe in it again,” said the athletic 30-year-old. Read more

Arrow Lakes News: ‘You’re hurting our kids’ 

June 15, 2010

The District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) is protesting cuts to public education by having parents sign a distributed letter to the Minister of Education.

Lee-Anne Marshall, chairperson of both DPAC and the Nakusp Secondary School PAC, said with enough support, hopefully there will be some changes made out in Victoria.

“In an effort to inform our government that we aren’t happy with all of the cuts to public education, your PAC and DPAC have decided to write a brief letter to the Minister of Education,” Marshall said. “It is our hope that each parent in our district will choose to sign and send this letter; print it and mail to the address below, email it or fax it. It’ll only take a few minutes of your time.” Read more

Download a copy of the letter.

Arrow Lakes News: School Board finds more funds

May 25, 2010

Sam Smith – Arrow Lakes News

At a special open door meeting, School District No. 10’s board recently dug up $100,000, reducing their previous deficit of roughly $316,882 to $376,228 down to around $200,000.

The extra money was found from an easy winter, which saved roughly $50,000, and the rest of the money was found in little bits throughout the budget. Read more

Cranbrook Daily Townsman: School District 5 deficit battle

Gerry Warner, Daily Townsman

May 14, 2010

School District 5 trustees are rolling up their sleeves and digging in for a big budget deficit battle between now and the end of June, but trustees are optimistic they can eliminate the close to $1 million deficit before the deadline.

The Board gave second reading to its 2010 – 2011 operational budget at its last meeting in Elkford May 11 even though it had a deficit of more than $900,000.

But Board Chairman Frank Lento says he’s confident the deficit will be eliminated by the time of the next Board meeting in Cranbrook June 8. “We just have a couple more things to deal with and we should know what we will be doing. Read more

Castlegar News: School staff upset by cuts

Jed Anderson – Castlegar News

April 27, 2010

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 1285, which represents support staff in Kootenay Columbia School District (SD 20), expressed its unhappiness with possible changes to their working hours during a meeting on April 26.

Support staff such as janitors, bus drivers and administration assistants are all represented by the union. Read more

Arrow Lakes News: School board not facing as deep a deficit as they thought

April 6, 2010

By Sam Smith – Arrow Lakes News

At the latest board meeting of School District No. 10, the school trustees were shown that they will not be facing as deep a deficit as they thought.

Treasurer Walter Posnikoff previously said the school board would be facing a deficit between $350,000 to $450,000. This prompted the discussion of a possible school closure in Burton, which is still undecided, as well as possible personnel cuts in the zone. Read article

Castlegar News: SD 20 considers merger with SD8

February 23, 2010

By Jed Anderson – Castlegar News

During a regular meeting of the Kootenay-Columbia school board on Feb. 22, trustee Vince Morelli gave a notice of motion. Morelli plans to make a motion at the next meeting, asking for the board to consider a merger with School District 8 (Kootenay Lake) and possibly School District 10 (Arrow Lakes).

“I think it’s something we have to look at,” said Morelli.

Dropping enrollments and shrinking resources are causing many school districts in rural B.C. to consider radical options in order to cut costs. Read the story

Creston Valley Advance: SD8 board told not to close CEC

25 February 2010

Lorne Eckersley – Advance staff

If the School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake) board of education decides to close the Creston Education Centre (CEC) it won’t be without a fight. Nearly 150 people poured into the former South Creston Elementary School gym Monday night to confirm the facility’s importance.

“Coming here on this issue is not something we take very lightly,” board chair Bill Maslechko said in his introduction.

Maslechko said the board was undertaking a review of all of its facilities after being hit with news in the summer that an anticipated $1.3 million facilities grant wouldn’t arrive this year. Read the story

Arrow Lakes News: School Board considers the closure of Burton Elementary

2 March 2010

Keith Powell – Arrow Lakes News

The last regular meeting of School District No. 10 board held a sobering vote to look into closing Burton Elementary School – and the vote came back positive.

“I feel for Burton,” says board chair Pattie Adam. “They’ve lost their store, they’ve lost their gas station. If they lose their school, how do they attract young families to the area?”

The closure surrounds the difficult task of putting together a balanced budget for the next school year. The district is looking at a shortfall of more than $400,000. Read the story

Contact local MLAs

MLA Bill Bennett, Kootenay East (BC Liberal)

• Email: bill.bennett.mla@leg.bc.ca
• Constituency office: 100C Cranbrook Street N. Cranbrook, V1C 3P9, Telephone: 250 417-6022

MLA Norm MacDonald, Columbia River-Revelstoke (NDP)

• Email: norm.macdonald.mla@leg.bc.ca
• Constituency office: 104 – 806 9th Street N, Box 2052, Golden, V0A 1H0, Telephone: 250 344-4816

MLA Katrine Conroy, Kootenay West (NDP)

• Email: katrine.conroy.mla@leg.bc.ca
• Constituency office: 2 – 1006 3rd Street, Castlegar, V1N 3X6, Telephone: 250 304-2783

MLA Michelle Mungall, Nelson Creston (NDP)

• Email: michelle.mungall.mla@leg.bc.ca
• Constituency office: 204 – 402 Baker Street, Nelson, V1L 4H8, Telephone: 250 354-5944