The prospect of school closures and Grade 6 students sharing space with those preparing to graduate has Enderby area parents on edge.
The North Okanagan-Shuswap School District will hold a town hall meeting Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at A.L. Fortune Secondary School to discuss potential changes to how current facilities are used. Among the options is closing Grindrod Elementary this year.
“I suspect there will be a hard fight from community members to keep the school open,” said Kim Anker, Grindrod Elementary parents advisory committee chairperson.
“It would be very short-sighted as there’s only two feeder schools to A.L. Fortune Secondary. There’s a huge catchment area Grindrod’s there for (half-way to Sicamous).”
Herman Halvorson, regional district director, says the lack of a school could impact the community’s long-term viability.
“The community is getting older and if you’re trying to get young families in, it’s challenging without a school,” he said.
Other options being proposed by the school district are converting Enderby’s M.V. Beattie Elementary to kindergarten to Grade 5 and reconfiguring A.L. Fortune Secondary to Grades 6 to 12.
Having Grade 6 students in the same building as Grade 12 students doesn’t appear popular.
“There are huge concerns from parents,” said Anker.
Changes are also being considered in Armstrong, including closing Len Wood Middle School and one of the two elementary schools, and reconfiguring Pleasant Valley Secondary School to Grades 6 to 12 between 2017 and 2019.
“Our budgets continue to shrink. We have been supporting a structure for enrolment that doesn’t exist any more,” said trustee Chris Coers, adding that adjusting facility use could free up funds for classrooms.
According to district figures, it anticipates a shortfall of $3.6 million over the next three years, including $1.3 million in 2016/17.
Coers says no decisions have been made by the district and public consultation is important to determine if alternatives exist.
“We hope stakeholders participating in the process will help us find a solution,” she said.
About 200 people attended an open house in Armstrong last week.
“We left with a sense of what the community will accept and what they are opposed to,” said Coers.