School board needs teeth

We have to admit we’ve spent only a short time inside Rutland Middle School, so it’s difficult for us to question how pressing issues there are.

However, we have no reason to doubt the seriousness of the problems given the general state of schools in the Central Okanagan.

Visit any school, any classroom at any level — or speak with any teacher — and you will likely get an earful about exactly what that school needs “now.”

On Wednesday, the newest edition of the Central Okanagan school board met for the first time, and they were told RMS is again atop the priority list for funding.

This is somewhat of a surprise for us considering the overcrowding and lack of high school space in the north of the city.

While we haven’t spent much time at RMS, we have seen firsthand the state of Glenmore Elementary and the growing crunch at Watson Road and North Glenmore.

Parents are so keen to enter their children in Glenmore’s French immersion program, that the school recently added another class of kindergarten.

The area is growing so well that another half-class of English was added, too, bringing the total to 5 1/2 kindergarten classes. It’s the largest elementary school in the Okanagan with about 650 students. It’s also one of the oldest with more portable classrooms than seems sensible and the littlest kids in “pods” across the play fields.

The roof is crumbling and teachers are using every square inch of space twice over.

We’ve had the good fortune of meeting and speaking with dedicated staff at A.S. Matheson, Raymer and Spring Valley. We know about popular schools like Dorthea Walker and Davidson Road. Everyone has concerns. There are only three public high schools in Kelowna and two of them are south of downtown and the other in Rutland.

Yes, in a city of about 134,000 people, half the kids have to bus across town to attend high school.

These are all the reasons why we’re startled that RMS is priortity No. 1, and we wonder if this new school board will adjust that list given the influx of new faces.

We also wonder if it’s time for these trustees to start making more noise — political, headline-making, attention-grabbing noise.

Board chairwoman Moira Baxter told our reporter this week that the province decides where to spend money here, and that the previous two major investments came with the building of Mar Jok Elementary on the Westside and expansion of Okanagan Mission.

She intimated that someone somehow exerted political pressure on the provincial government to get these projects approved — some force outside the school district.

“They weren’t even the top of our list,” she said. “If they see there’s an area that needs something and they feel that’s the politically astute thing to do, that’s what they sometimes do.” We can’t believe that for a minute. Exactly what was to be gained from those two projects, politically speaking? What seems more likely is our provincial government is clueless about our needs.

That’s why this board should start lobbying like they’ve never lobbied before. They need to start holding ministers and premiers to account in the public sphere. There are too many problems in this city, and clearly not enough money. It’s time to start screaming. — Guest editor David Trifunov