Grade configuration to be tweaked in West Kelowna
The chair and superintendent of the Central Okanagan School Board admit there was inadequate consultation on a grade reconfiguration in West Kelowna.
Nonetheless, trustees still voted in favour of a move on the Westside to house kindergarten through Grade 5 in elementary schools, Grades 6-8 in middle schools, and Grades 9-12 at Mount Boucherie Secondary, effective this fall. (The existing configuration is K-6, 7-9 and 10-12.)
“We have not followed the best practices in notification and transparency,” superintendent Kevin Kaardal told a group of about 100 parents at Wednesday’s meeting held at a gymnasium in Rutland. “We had this plan for 2019, but as we developed a budget for next year, we saw what the cost measures were.”
Chairwoman Moyra Baxter scolded the superintendent.
“We are being so short-sighted,” Baxter said. “This is short-term gain for significant long-term pain. This first came to the board in January. We talked about it for the first time on Feb. 1 and now, one month later, we are asked to vote on it. We have not done proper consultation. We have not followed our usual route in trying to be transparent and providing enough time for meetings, consultation, looking at what are all the options.”
Baxter then asked why school boards and trustees even exist.
SD23 secretary treasurer Eileen Sadlowski referenced an anticipated savings of $1.8 million in one year that would be allocated to portable classrooms if the status quo remained.
Kelowna trustee Chris Gorman noted a payroll tax of 1.95 per cent and said it’s unknown if the government will offer any form of financial reprieve for school boards.
Kelowna trustee Rolli Cacchioni said that if the change is not made, it could result in cuts to other services for students.
Kelowna trustee Lee Mossman said it was a “gut-wrenching decision,” but added, “That’s not what I’m elected for. I’m here for the best interests of all students in the district.”
West Kelowna trustee Julia Fraser broke down and sobbed, giving personal details of a family tragedy and how it affected her own daughter. She said services are available for children in need. Fraser said she “really cares,” and was voting in the best interests of all children.
Fraser said there are assurances that leadership programs and year-end school trips for Grade 5 and Grade 8 pupils will continue.
Kelowna trustee Lee-Ann Tiede said it would have been “the easy way out” to begin the reconfigurations in 2019, as originally anticipated.
A similar reconfiguration occurred in Rutland several years ago which proved successful.
Baxter said it was comparing “apples with oranges,” because Rutland was in dire need of student enrolment at the time, unlike Mount Boucherie Secondary School that’s presently bursting at the seams.
Lake Country trustee Deb Butler was the other dissenting vote stating there are too many uncertainties.
“We need to grow slowly as you need to grow,” Butler said. “This could end up costing us a lot more money if we don’t get it right the first time.”
The original thought was the reconfiguration would begin in September 2019. That, however, wasn’t the case.
More than a dozen parents spoke prior to the vote. Recurring concerns were overcrowding at Mount Boucherie and a small window of time to prepare children for a significant adjustment.
“Voting for this proposal tonight would start the clock ticking on a massive problem at MBSS in three to five years,” parent Matt Whitt told the board. “What is the plan for MBSS in four or five years when there’s no space for additional portables and enrollment continues to increase?”
Teachers union president Susan Bauhart made a passionate plea to trustees to allow parents and students more than three months for a significant adjustment.
“The children need time. They have three months and our teachers, they’re concerned that they’re not going to be able to do those students justice. You (trustees) all agree that students are first, and I can not accept any money issue as being the drive for this. You need to respect the views of the parents you heard tonight. They’ve done a lot of work on this, it means the world to them.”