Support promised for students affected by grade reconfiguration

School district official says various steps taken to bring about smooth transition in West Kelowna schools

Every effort is being made to ensure a smooth transition for West Kelowna students who are caught in the current reconfiguration of grades.

“There’s been lots of involvement and there will continue to be involvement to assure children are supported,” assistant superintendent Rick Oliver told trustees at Wednesday’s Central Okanagan school board meeting. “To do this properly, we have to support our students.”

Effective Sept. 1 in West Kelowna, kindergarten through Grade 5 will be housed in elementary schools, Grades 6-8 at Const. Neil Bruce Middle School, Grades 6-9 at Glenrosa Middle School, and Grades 9-12 at Mount Boucherie Secondary School. (The existing configuration is K-6, 7-9 and 10-12.)

“We are using a spreadsheet from the Rutland schools to guide us,” Oliver said. “There have been meetings held with Grade 5 and 6 students that are transitioning, meetings held with Grade 8s who are transitioning. We’ve been meeting with teachers and the HR departments, principals are setting up meetings with PACs (parent advisory councils).

“They are talking about year-end trips, celebrations, hoodies and lots of involvement,” he said referring to students who will be denied a “senior year” in elementary and middle school.

A meeting held recently at Mount Boucherie Secondary School, Oliver said, was well attended by both parents and students.

West Kelowna trustee Julia Fraser, agreeing that, at 28 days, not enough time was spent on the process, expressed confidence in staff’s abilities.

She said a similar reconfiguration of grades occurred in 2012 in Rutland and that process ran smoothly under the same timelines.

“I am confident that staff will implement successful reconfiguration, similar to what was done in Rutland in 2012 — to the satisfaction of parents, teachers and students,” Fraser said.

Board chair Moyra Baxter, who was absent for most of the meeting due to a sudden illness, argued at the Feb. 28 meeting that the Rutland situation was “comparing apples with oranges” to the current overcrowding in West Kelowna.

Trustees voting in favour noted a projected $1.8 million in savings in one year. That money would have been spent on the relocation and construction of portable classrooms.

Still, the process was limited to 28 days, parents Chantelle Desrosiers and Sarah Newton told trustees in a 15-minute presentation.

“What has been lacking in this process is the integrity of the school district’s policies and they haven’t been upheld,” Desrosiers said.

The parents said that Rutland involved a detailed consultation process and West Kelowna’s was a rush job.

Board superintendent Kevin Kaardal said lawyers were consulted and, in their opinion, the process was followed.

There was speculation a vote to reconsider would be tabled. Trustee Deb Butler, who with Baxter voted against the reconfiguration, said a motion to reconsider must come from someone who voted contrarily. It never came. “Parents of West Kelowna, you have every right to be upset that you did not have the length of consultation that would have been preferred,” Kelowna trustee Lee Mossman said. “As a trustee, I’m upset. But for a motion of reconsideration, I have to go back to am I making a school decision or am I making an emotional decision?”