Axe starts dropping on 3 schools
Three local schools are now just days away from receiving their death warrants. Trustees on the board of School District 67 voted unanimously Wednesday night to give the first two readings to a slate of bylaws required to close the facilities -- Parkway and Carmi in Penticton, and Giant’s Head in Summerland -- in June 2025.
Final readings and adoption of the bylaws are now set for a special meeting on Monday, April 15.
“This is a proposal that has been 10 years in the making,” said Trustee Linda Van Alphen, the board’s longest-serving member at 23 years.
“I think that our district has been in this position for that length of time -- and thank goodness for really good staff who have been able to make it work every year -- but I think we’re at a point where it doesn’t work anymore.”
Should the closures be confirmed on Monday, SD 67 staff would spend the next year working with school communities “to determine the legacies and memories we want to honour” from the doomed sites, said superintendent Todd Manuel at Wednesday’s meeting, which attracted about 50 people.
“Perhaps there’s a really important piece of art or fixture in a school that needs to come, or perhaps there’s a sign in a school that would be brought out for installation,” said Manuel during the public question portion of Wednesday’s meeting.
“So, there would be a much deeper conversation through all of next year about what all of that looks like.”
A fourth facility, the Connect Ed building on the grounds of Penticton Secondary School, is slated to close, too. The alternate-education programs based there would be dispersed to other facilities.
The district would also eliminate middle school altogether, by converting three existing middle schools to elementary schools, then adding grades to elementary and high schools.
Driving the changes are ongoing budget shortfalls, estimated at $1.4 million for the coming year, along with flat enrolment numbers that are down to 5,700 – about 2,000 fewer kids than were here 20 years ago.
The three closures are expected to save about $1.5 million in operating costs annually, while the one-time capital cost of renovating the other schools is pegged at $3 million.
There are no immediate plans to dispose of the properties should they become vacant.
As of December 2023, Penticton schools were operating at a cumulative capacity of 82%, while Summerland schools were at 69%.
Based on population projections that predict seniors will account for most new residents over the next 10 years, SD 67 enrolment is only expected to grow by 160 to 300 kids over that same timeframe.
The 60-day closure process kicked off in January and included six public information sessions that attracted a total of 165 people, trustees heard Wednesday.
Trustees are considering the closures as part of an overdue update to the district’s long-range facilities plan, which are generally done every 10 years. The last such review in SD 67 was completed in 2011.
PROPOSAL FOR PENTICTON SCHOOLS
• Princess Margaret and Penticton Secondary (currently Grade 9-12) both reconfigured to take kids in Grade 8, beginning September 2024.
• Columbia Elementary joins the Penticton Secondary catchment area, effective September 2024.
• Parkway and Carmi elementary schools close, effective September 2025.
• Connect ED building closes with programs dispersed to other facilities, effective September 2025.
• KVR Middle becomes an elementary school and takes former students of Carmi, effective September 2025.
• Skaha Lake Middle becomes an elementary school and takes former students of Parkway, effective September 2025.
• Grades 6-7 added over a two-year period to all other elementary schools: Columbia, Naramata, Queen’s Park, Uplands, West Bench, Wiltse and Kaleden, beginning September 2025.
PROPOSAL FOR SUMMERLAND SCHOOLS
• Summerland Secondary (currently Grade 9-12) reconfigured to take kids in Grade 8 as of September 2024, and Grade 7 as of September 2025.