Rossland council supports Neighbourhoods of Learning as school closure crunch fast approaches
By Andrew Bennett
As the School District No. 20 (SD20) board approaches it’s February, 2013, decision on school closures in Rossland, council decided on Jan. 4 to inject $5000 into the Neighbourhoods of Learning Committee (NOL) prior to adopting the 2013 budget.
The deadline for written public submissions to SD20’s facilities process ended on Jan. 4, but the board will hold a public meeting in the RSS gym on Tuesday, Jan. 15 at 6:30 p.m. to hear from residents directly.
In December, council was roundly dismissive of SD20’s staff report that listed only three options: 1) Close MacLean, K-12 at RSS, 2) Close MacLean, K-9 at RSS, and 3) Close RSS, K-7 at MacLean.
Coun. Kathy Moore said, “The cuts to the budget being foisted on us are unconscionable.” She said the SD20 report was peppered with “statements you could refute, but they’re laying it out as fact.” She pointed particularly to many of the $3 million in improvements that the report claimed were necessary for RSS, but are, she said, “unnecessary.”
Coun. Jill Spearn, council’s representative to NOL, said in December that NOL were working hard to assemble “facts that dispel the report,” and presented council with a preliminary document assembled by NOL coordinator. NOL has since distilled these facts and made them available online.
“I’m very proud of this committee,” Spearn said, calling Ellis a “mastermind.”
We have also just published an analysis by Aaron Cosbey in which he argues that SD20 has ignored the likelihood of attrition and lost international student revenues. The consequences he details show a net financial loss, rather than the savings SD20 seeks.
In December, Spearn noted “all kinds of flaws in [SD20’s] report” that ignore the “economic and ecological implications to our community.” The report also bypasses RSS’s leadership in the provincial ‘blended learning’ approach and its draw for international students, a topic Cosbey also analyzes thoroughly in his report.
Besides RSS’s disproportionate draw for international students, several students from Castlegar and Trail also choose to attend RSS. Coun, Kathy Wallace commented that SD20 should not pit schools against each other: “If you’re trying to provide quality, you have to provide options,” she said. “If you reduce options at RSS, you’re reducing options across SD20. It’s important to recognize detriment to all of students across district.”
On Jan. 4, council met for a special meeting to approve a preliminary $5000 budget for NOL—prior to the adoption of the 2013 to 2017 financial plan later this spring— to carry the group through the next two to four months. NOL spent it’s $15,000 budget in 2012 by Dec. 31 last year.
Spearn said, “The next couple of months is critical to [NOL]. If we want them to do anything, they need some kind of budget, so that’s why I brought it to council.”
Spearn also announced that Jennifer Ellis has resigned as the NOL coordinator. The committee recently voted to replace her with Aerin Guy, a new resident in Rossland with a child in Grade 5 at MacLean.
Spearn said that Guy will bill at the same hourly rate as Ellis did before, approximately “$40 or $45” per hour.
“She’s got a great resume and is highly skilled in technology and in education,” Spearn said. “She’s worked for a number of educational development companies in the field of technology.”
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