To the editor:
The basis for closing an elementary school in a rural area is often finances.
The cost of keeping the school open seems prohibitive when weighed against the student enrolment. This is, I believe, the stand taken by the School District #27 (SD27) board in regard to the closure of Bridge Lake Elementary School (BLES).
Parents are faced with a different dilemma. Families moved to the Interlakes area to create a life based on a rural setting, which meets their desires and lifestyle. The community relies on the continued immigration of these families.
Then, the school board announces the closure of their school. The difficulty for parents lies in their children’s extended bus ride to Horse Lake Elementary School.
If parents can’t accept the added travel time, do they relocate to avoid this for their children? This is a formidable decision and hard to be fathomed.
Money is a poor reason for closure of a school. If SD27 is determining the closure of BLES based on costs, then school trustees need to reconsider their views on the value of education.
Our government provides grants for all sorts of projects.
Are our school taxes applied to general revenue and then used to fund these projects? If so, using the excuse of funding as a reason to shut a school seems invalid.
Who is to say these projects are more important than keeping BLES open?
The provincial government is using school taxes to fund private schools. If there is money for private schools, then trustees need to be defending the position of keeping public schools open.
Funding for public schools takes priority and so making plenty of money available to keep our school open. After all, school trustees are elected to represent public schools.
The elected school board members and Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett are asked to come to the defence of BLES and support keeping our school open. Rural schools have a special place in British Columbia’s history. Let’s work together to keep them available for children living in rural communities.
Elaine Adams
Interlakes
