School District #27 (SD27) trustees will soon reach a decision on school closures that may or may not align with what parents want.
SD27 chair Will Van Osch says trustees listened to parents, teachers and staff. Now, they will use their own judgement to select the best options for changes, which are needed to deal with their current budget crunch, whether they agree with them or not.
“In the end, what we decide may not be reflected at all in the consultations.... I presume it will, but there's no obligation for us to do that.
“We just have to make sure we're open minded and we listen and take into account what people are saying and try to fit it in with whatever [we do].”
His comments follow concerns raised about some other potential options not included in the board's Initial Options Report during a recent school-closure forum held in Williams Lake.
Van Osch notes a brief discussion ensued after the issue was brought up by two people at the consultation meeting at Kwaleen Elementary School.
Trustees looked at “lots and lots” of other options, and may consider others, he explains, but only the ones currently being considered by the board are in its report for public input.
He notes the board “expects” other options to be proposed and its reasoning questioned by parents during the consultation process, and it does consider their comments.
“That's what the consultation is all about.”
Van Osch says he suspects the parent who spoke out, both at the meeting and afterward in the media, is interested in “challenging” the board on its consultation and change process.
“He wanted us to put all the possible options, that ever could be, together and represent them through an entirely new public process.”
The board “can't do that” in the time frame it has, he explains. Trustees also want any options to fit within the guiding principles they set out at the beginning, such as for minimizing student transitions.
Van Osch says trustees can go forward “fairly confidently” now with the information it has gathered.
Their review of public input on proposed closures may compel them to look at another configuration, he adds, and possibly decide on something entirely new in the end.
“We may look at [other options] again, absolutely.”
However, costing out and doing detailed analyses of every possibility and presenting them all to parents just isn't going to happen, Van Osch explains.
While the trustees agreed at the Kwaleen meeting to discuss extending the timeline for the consultation process, he says they determined at their regular board meeting the next day there was “no compelling reason or new information” to do that.
Board meetings, open to the public, have been scheduled for Dec. 11 and 18, Jan. 8 (in 100 Mile House), Jan. 15 and Jan. 22 (the expected Initial Options Report decision date).
For more information, visit the website at www.sd27.bc.ca.