About two dozen parents turned out for the recent School District #27 (SD27) public forum at Buffalo Creek Elementary School (BCES) to talk about its proposed closure.
The board informed parents about its Initial Options Report to gather input and suggestions from parents in attendance.
BCES Parent Advisory Council (PAC) president Julie Dewsbury says she left the meeting with significant concerns left unanswered.
“The primary concern is this board seems very closed-minded. They have their blinders on.”
When parents asked why the board chose its school for potential closure, she says the trustees told them there is an issue with the well.
Dewsbury explains she asked all the staff at the school, and even those who have worked at the school for 20 years say have never seen any issues with the well or the water.
“[The board] said ‘the kids have the water [coolers] in the classrooms.’ Well, that’s so they don’t have to keep running back and forth.”
The PAC paid for and installed the water coolers at its own initiative, she adds.
“They all drink the well water, they all wash in it, we cook with it, and nobody has ever gotten sick.”
The parents were informed by SD27 administration staff at meeting that the well underneath the building is deteriorating.
“I could see it if there was a water quality issue, but there’s not,” says Dewsbury.
When parents asked how the board knows the well is in jeopardy, she says they didn’t get a clear answer.
The PAC president explains this lack of details and clarity is a root problem – staff performs the studies that direct the board toward making its own “uneducated” decision.
School board chair Will Van Osch says deteriorating well equipment is the reason the water is in question because the well can’t be accessed for repairs.
“From my understanding, it’s starting to slough in. I’m not exactly sure what the details are, but apparently it is under the building, so I guess they’re not able to pull out the pump or anything like that, and it will need to be replaced.”
Dewsbury notes the school’s declining enrolment is also pointed to as a basis for closure, as well as the fact Forest Grove Elementary School (FGES) is further from town.
“I think they’re just grasping at straws in the air because they have no other reasons. Buffalo Creek is a newer school (than Forest Grove’s), it’s a brighter school, it has a newer playground, every part of the building is being utilized, and it has the biggest gymnasium.”
FGES also has low enrolment, she says, with one wing of it closed off and unused, but she doesn’t believe that school should be closed either.
“I don’t want to see any schools close. My issue with the board is they need to look at their overhead.
“Instead of closing schools, there are other ways to trim the fat off the budget.”
Meanwhile, Van Osch says an independent party did administrative review this summer, and that is part of the whole budget review process.
Dewsbury says what “frustrates” her about the plan is she feels there is only one option presented – to close the school.
“I asked ‘why can’t we have more scenarios’? They said ‘nope, this is it’. This is their options report and that’s what they’re going on.”
However, Van Osch has maintained throughout the process that trustees will consider researching the viability of some options presented by the public, whether they are completely new ideas or things that could be partially implemented.
All of the parent comments and options are being reviewed by the board now, he explains, and it has prepared a 268-page report summary of those that can be reviewed on the website at www.SD27.bc.ca.
The full report can be read at any school, or copies may be purchased in person at the board office in Williams Lake.
Dewsbury says she was “disappointed” to see so few parents attend the public forum on such an important issue, as the majority who did turn out were the eight PAC members and their spouses.
