SD23 sold out kids
No child should ever be forced to attend middle school or high school a year earlier than planned without at least one year’s notice.
Shame on the Central Okanagan School District for blatantly sardine-canning West Kelowna’s children into a new reconfiguration with three months notice.
Effective at the start of the 2018/19 school year, kindergarten through Grade 5 will be housed in one school, Grades 68 in middle school, and Grades 9-12 at the already-overcrowded Mount Boucherie Secondary School. (The existing configuration is K-6, 7-9 and 10-12.)
The board says there’s $1.8 million in savings in one year alone due to the portable classroom set up. If they keep the present configuration until September 2019, as originally planned, it could result in cuts to existing programs.
After the performance witnessed on Wednesday night, the entire head table could be cut from the upcoming budget and nobody would miss them.
Parents, as well as teachers union president Susan Bauhart, mostly agree September 2019 would be reasonable. We’re dealing with 10-year-olds.
Superintendent Kevin Kaardal admits there was inadequate consultation time. It first came to the attention of trustees and parnter groups in January, was discussed publicly on Feb. 1 and then voted on Wednesday night at a meeting held — not in West Kelowna — but Rutland. The meeting began at 6 p.m. and the doors to the facility were not clearly marked, most of them were locked.
The cost savings is good, but the way this was handled stunk worse than any sewage plant.
Where was the configuration suggestion on Sept. 1, 2017? The Duggars from “19 Kids and Counting” and the Osmand family didn’t all of a sudden move to Lakeview Heights.
Somebody was either asleep at the wheel, absorbed in their own self-importance, or simply not doing their job well enough.
A representative from a Parents Advisory Committee said many are in favour of the change but are “too scared to speak up.” That claim is 100 per cent unsubstantiated. That statement would never hold up in a court of law and it certainly doesn’t in a print newspaper where we quote our sources.
A spokesman for the principals’ association promised that every child will be made to feel welcome. With his boss sitting there, what else could he say?
Both conveniently waited for Bauhart to speak. At times, the meeting appeared staged.
The voice of reason in all of this was chair Moyra Baxter, who was visibly shaken.
“We are being so short-sighted,” Baxter said. “This is shortterm gain for significant longterm pain.”
Lake Country trustee Deb Butler was the other dissenting vote.
I conclude by asking trustees Rolli Cacchioni, Julia Fraser, Chris Gorman, Lee Mossman and Lee-Ann Tiede, who are you there for, the children or the administration?