There was an article in the May 29 edition of The Hope Standard about the possible closure of C.E. Barry school. It needs a seismic upgrade and it is nearing the end of its life cycle.
There was lots of talk about sending some kids to high school and some to Coquihalla elementary. Not one word was said about Silver Creek elementary school. Why is this? I think we all know the answer. It’s because all of the big shots who are about to make a decision on this issue don’t want to bus their kids or their relative’s kids to Silver Creek. There are no buses bringing kids to Silver Creek elementary but there are buses taking kids from Silver Creek to Hope. Why?
Silver Creek elementary school was built in 1999 – it’s modern and new. There are currently four, yes that’s right four, empty classrooms and this school is capable of holding over 200 kids. It now only has 100 kids.
The kids in Coquihalla have iPads, the kids at Silver Creek don’t. There is clearly some bias here when decisions are made. The staff at Silver Creek school are highly qualified and professional.
I don’t have any kids but I must pay $3,000 a year in property taxes. A lot of that money is for schools and for paying the big shots on the school board. They are putting on a real nice show but I can already see our taxes going up.
Udo Pietsch,
Hope, B.C.
