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THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
RESPONDING TO EMERGENCY Seven firefighters from the Merritt Fire Rescue Department responded to an accident south of Merritt on the Coquihalla Highway on Thursday, April 19. Dispatched around 6 p.m. the firefighters retrieved four occupants of a vehicle that went over a 300 foot rocky embankment. Using ropes, rapelling gear and basket stretchers, crews were able to rescue the injured passengers who were then transported to hospital. Peter Joyce, district manager for Mountain West Studios, who stopped to help, said the accident occurred when another vehicle clipped the car sending it over the embankment. It came to rest facing uphill when the vehicle’s rear end was stopped by a large tree. Peter Joyce photo
Coquihalla Middle School closure official By Phillip Woolgar THE HERALD
reporter@merrittherald.com
Coquihalla Middle School is scheduled to close on June 30, after the Nicola-Similkameen School District 58 trustees voted unanimously on Wednesday to support the cost-cutting measure. “We could have hit the wall in three years, but with the school closure it could be six years,” said Kevin Black, secretary-treasurer for SD 58. A decrease to next year’s expected number of students means fewer ministry funds. Funding protection is expected to drop by 1.5 percentage points to 98.5 per cent. SD 58 faces
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a further challenge from the ministry’s decision to only cover costs to the equivalent of each course, rather than each student. SD 58 Chairman Gordon Comeau said the location of teachers and other CMS staff need to be sorted. “The transitions of positions have already started,” he said. Staff juggling depends on seniority. For example, the CMS school principal could be the first eligible for a teaching role elsewhere, Comeau noted — but some staff have already found other employment. “It will flow down the system,” he added. “We don’t expect a large
job loss, if any.” Some of the temporary positions, however, are at risk. The district is also interested in renting out the CMS building. Comeau said three parties have expressed interest, but he can’t identify them because disclosure might affect negotiations. The decision means elementary schools change from kindergarten to Grade 6, to kindergarten to Grade 7. Merritt Secondary School changes from Grades 9 to 12, to Grades 8 to 12. Trustees said they want to maintain a middle school “team” atmosphere in classrooms where students are about to transition to
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high school. This was a major concern for many parents and teachers through the three public meetings the district held this spring. But stakeholders voiced few concerns when the board first announced its intent to close CMS, during the meetings. Some people argued in favour of closing school portables throughout the district instead of CMS, but that option would mean some elementary school students would have to travel far in order to attend school. The portables are placed at schools that are around full capacity. “Each school operates in a different environment,” Comeau noted. “Probably a lot of them could close
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and that may be an option down the road should funds get really, really tight.” The portables at CMS may go elsewhere within the district. “And the ones that we have no use for, we may find people who are interested in buying them,” Comeau said. Closing CMS was one of two options the school board debated. The other option would close both Bench Elementary and Collettville Elementary. The CMS closure was anticipated to save nearly $420,000 per year, while the option to close Bench and Collettville would save an estimated $480,000 per year.
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