LETTER: Why didn't you say it to our face?
By Contributor
Dear editor,
There was no giant roar of disapproval from the small crowd gathered to hear SD20’s first reading of the school closure bylaw, when all but three of the trustees voted to defeat the option to keep K-12 in Rossland at RSS.
And that’s exactly the way the trustees wanted it.
They didn’t want to face angry questions. They didn’t want to look into the shocked faces of the community. They didn’t want to have to explain their rationale for shuttering the only option that made sense for the community of Rossland.
They didn’t want to have to justify the end of RSS’s celebrated Blended Learning model – certainly not within the actual building that houses this innovative program.
The Board’s refusal to carry K-12 over to the next reading is an act of sheer cowardice.
The mountain of evidence of overcrowding in the near future did not sway them. This is a decision about money. Not students, not learning, and certainly not the future of the community. The options that remain are fraught with problems. Do we leave it to this Board to solve them?
If these people are the stewards of our children’s education, then it is no wonder that the flavour of conversation on the streets – physical and online – is of frustration and a desire to break away. While they may be on the way to balancing their budget and appearing “responsible” (as one trustee lamented when the possibility of submitting a managed deficit came up), they have shown an utter disregard for their responsibility to provide good
educational space for our community of learners.
Shame on you, SD20. You should have said it to our face.
Aerin Guy
Coordinator, Rossland Neighbourhood of Learning Committee
Rossland Resident and Parent
