System needs tweaking

If school boards survive in British Columbia, the provincial government may want to consider tweaking its system of how trustees are elected.

At present, each area is represented based on its size.

For example, Central Okanagan has four trustees and the other three spots are Peachland and area, West Kelowna and Lake Country. (The boundaries are a tad broader than that, but in the interest of space, that’s a simplistic outline.)

In Okanagan Skaha, Penticton has four seats, Summerland two, and the rural areas (Naramata, Kaleden, Westbench) one.

We just witnessed last week four Kelowna trustees voting in support of a controversial reconfiguration of West Kelowna schools. (For good measure, the West Kelowna representative voted in favour of the motion which passed by a 5-2 vote.)

In 2016, the Okanagan Skaha board voted to close schools in Westbench and Trout Creek. (They were later saved at the last minute by the provincial government, as was Osoyoos Secondary School.) In the case of Trout Creek, the two Summerland trustees — Julie Planiden (who recently moved out of district to Oliver) and Linda Van Alphen — voted to close their own schools, but Penticton trustees Bruce Johnson and Bill Bidlake voted to keep the schools open.

In Okanagan Similkameen, two Oliver trustees voted against accepting emergency funding from the provincial government to keep Osoyoos Secondary School open for at least another two years.

This leaves voters in places like Osoyoos, West Kelowna and Summerland with very few options.

They can’t vote for or against the people who made, what they consider to be, a poor decision.

In reverse, Summerland parents can not vote for either Johnson or Bidlake. (In this case, it’s a moot point because neither is seeking re-election, but in a regular year they might.)

Having a representative is a fair system, but schools already have a strong voice with their parent advisory councils. Also, there’s evidence to suggest candidates from the larger centres will usually win based on population.

What voters can do is find out who the candidates are in their neighbouring ridings and support anybody who is new through word-of-mouth, a financial contribution, or by volunteering with their campaign. Facebook is now a major player in municipal elections.

In the meantime, if B.C. continues to have school boards, now might be the time to elect trustees “at large” instead of by geographic reprentation.