As the School District #27 (SD27) trustees complete their final discussions on their proposal to close some area schools and reconfigure others, a local parent group leader questions its process.
Buffalo Creek Elementary School (BCES) Parent Advisory Council (PAC) president Julie Dewsbury said the aspect of well access, which trustees had recently pointed to as a main reason to close the school, “is a non-issue.”
Dewsbury went public with her dispute of any issues with the water or the well access, and then went to the school and found a well access hatch in its furnace room.
The PAC president said she is concerned trustees seem to be basing their decisions on “false” information provided by SD27 staff.
“If [the trustees] don’t have these facts in front of them, how can they make effective decisions?”
She e-mailed trustees, secretary treasurer Bonnie Roller and schools superintendent Mark Thiessen Jan. 5 informing them of her access hatch discovery. However, Dewsbury said she hasn’t received a reply.
Accessibility of the well should have an impact on the decision whether to close BCES, Dewsbury said, since the board told parents it was a key reason for considering that in its move toward necessary budget cuts.
School board chair Will Van Osch recently said in late December deteriorating well equipment is in question because it’s under the building and can’t be accessed for needed repairs.
However, when trustees at the Jan. 8 meeting asked for further information on the well accessibility, Roller said the well head is accessible through the school.
“That’s never been the problem. The problem is if you need to pull the sheathing and the pipes out, you have no where to pull it to, because you’re pulling 200-300 feet of pipe into a small furnace room or a hallway or such.”
She reiterated the SD27 facilities department reports the well is beginning to degrade.
Dewsbury wasn’t at the meeting, but noted there is also a hatch in the ceiling above the well, which is presumably a way the pipe could be pulled for any future repairs.
Nevertheless, several trustees expressed a mutual agreement that the well aspect is “irrelevant” and
Thiessen cautioned the board against allowing it to become a distraction from the most important issues.
“I think the well can be a bit of a ‘red herring’ and I don’t think it’s enough of an issue to make a decision on, one way or the other, on what schools you are considering closing.”
108 Mile Ranch-Lac la Hache Trustee Tanya Guenther said the well issue was initially brought up by parents in the public input process on its Thoughtstream feedback database.
The board appeared in agreement that it leaned more toward school locations and travel distances as main factors for consideration.
See related story on Page 3 of the Jan. 2 edition of the 100 Mile House Free Press.
