EDITORIAL: An immodest proposal for our schools' future

Earlier this week the deadline for submissions to School District 20's Planning for the Future process passed. Of the approximately 137 submissions currently posted to the board's web site, a mere 13 or so come from Rossland. It's likely that the controversial Planning for the Future Part 2 document, with its hypothetical scenarios of closing elementary schools in Warfield and Trail and reconfiguring RSS as a K-12 school had two main effects: that of galvinizing the populations of Trail and Warfield into aggressive action and that of lulling the population of Rossland into some sort of daydream that K-12 was a fait accompli.

The majority of Trail submissions (you can view them all here) were reasonable documents, albeit with a marked and predictable anti-RSS slant. When the money is scarce, people look out for their own first. Here are a few fairly representative comments:

• “The answer is really a simple one. RSS must be closed. It is a reality that this district has been facing for close to 20 years...It is an issue that will create problems so long as RSS remains open.” --Roland Vogel, Trail;
• “Until the closure of R.S.S. becomes a reality the entire district will be in crisis both emotionally, educationally and financially.” --John D'archangelo, Trail;
• “Closing Rossland Senior Secondary is the obvious choice. The 6’s & 7’s at RSS would be moved back to MacLean Elementary School. The grade 8’s and 9’s from RSS would be bused to TMS and the 10’s, 11’ and 12’s to JL Crowe.” --Kevin Jolly, Trail.

These statements, it should be noted, are not written in tones of personal hostility toward the residents of Rossland. Rather, these opinions are informed by a world view that assumes the current funding formula is the alpha and omega when it comes to deciding the future of our schools and what's best for our children and young people. True, arguments are also made that limited course selection is a factor in their thinking, but given that, currently, Rossland parents can choose to send their kids to Crowe for a wider selection of offerings and almost none do, we can dismiss those as irrelevant.

Not all the submissions advocated the bussing of Rossland kids to Trail:

• “Our vision for Neighbourhoods of Learning in Rossland centres around the creation of a resilient learning community that provides a wide range of educational opportunities and community services for people that live in Rossland and the Greater Trail Area, and for those that visit Rossland from all around the world, for all stages in their lives.”--Rossland Neighbourhoods of Learning Committee;
• “Rossland is a unique community that has long placed the highest value on K -12 education in our community. This is evidenced by the support and involvement of parents and community in the schools, by the education innovations taking place in RSS and Maclean (e.g. International program launched here, Academies, Strong Start etc.) and by the attendance at various public meetings over the years (e.g. the 1st Planning for the Future meeting held in Rossland attracted about 120 people). It is also demonstrated by the educational excellence at Maclean and RSS, which is rooted in the mutual involvement of parents, educators and community...Our schools lie at the heart of our community and we are committed to maintaining an education system that keeps our kids in our town.”--Rossland Visions for Small Schools;
• “The closing and disposal of MacLean Elementary and creation of a K – 9 school or a K –12 school in RSS makes sense on a budgetary and educational basis. There are manyexamples of successful hybrid elementary-secondary schools across the province, and this re-configuration would retain the school in community”--Greater Trail mayors;
• “Send all letters collected through the Planning for the Future process pertaining to the closure of schools to the Minister to the Minister of Education. These letters are representative of the strong sentiment being expressed by all BC communities: NO MORE SCHOOL CLOSURES. Continue to elicit letters of support for all schools from the public. Submit (once again) a needs-based budget that supports the retention of all schools in SD20. Request that the MoE acknowledge that the current funding formula is causing BC education to falter. It is the responsibility of the MoE to ensure that BC strives toward a 100% graduation rate.”--RSS PAC.

Here's the bottom line. Two 'visions of the future' are being expressed here. The School Board will make its decisions based on one or the other.

Vision A: The real politik view. If one looks at RSS solely in terms of dollars and cents, a strong case can be made for closing it. Money is tight, and RSS is old, it can't be denied. Of course, according to that same logic, we'd all start euthanizing our grannies in tough economic times. According to this logic, why not shut Crowe as well and ship ALL our kids to a super school in Castlegar or Nelson? Certainly, if this vision prevails, when the next round of cuts come and J.L. Crowe is on the chopping block, anguished parents down the hill won't be able to count on Rossland for support.

Vision B: The intangible argument. The only way to fight this harsh logic is with a vision that takes into account the intangibles that make life worth living: community, the pedagogical value of small schools, the role of schools in the viability of small, struggling towns, and the opportunities for flexibility offered by the digital age. This vision is closer to the heart of what education is supposed to be about. It's in line with the provincial government's Neighborhoods of Learning philosophy. And it can be achieved in a financially viable manner if we all pull together and get creative.

We live in tough times, economically and otherwise. We're in danger of becoming a people who look at everything in terms of the bottom line. In 1729 satirist Jonathan Swift wrote, in response to concerns about Irish poverty, “I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled ...” Is this the kind of thinking that, in one form or another, will rule both our futures and the futures of our children and grandchildren? Swift's point, of course, was that if you look at things from a strictly financial standpoint, people have no worth. The real value of things can never be quantified in monetary terms.

So which comes first: kids or money? Community or expediency?

The line has been drawn: if RSS is to have a viable future, as the overwhelming majority of Rosslanders want, we will have to make the case that such factors can and should be taken into account. Let's plan for a future—a real future filled with happy kids and healthy communities here, in Warfield, and, yes, even in Trail.

So go to the board's web site and read the submissions there. See what you think. Decide what future you want.

NOTE: We've heard that there's a good chance that late submissions by motivated Rosslanders may not be turned away, even at this late date.