Breaking news at rosslandnews.com
Vol. 8 • Issue 3
jodie@mountaintownproperties.ca
Thursday, January 17 • 2013
Rossland Winter Carnival Rock violin musician coing to only a week away Rossland this weekend See Page 5 See Page 12
PRICE REDUCED $449,000 Log Cabin, 4 bdrms, 23 acres, Paterson
Jodie O.
368-7166
Mountain Town Properties.ca
Natalie’s
Fresh Bread MON WED FRI! Becky’s
Cupcakes
ThuRsDAYs! JohN’s
Pizza
FRIDAYs!
As well as our usual excellent coffee and food every day of the week!
At the flashing light intersection, Rossland
It was a packed house at Rossland Secondary Tuesday night, as more than 500 residents showed up in what is the last chance for public input on the school closure debate facing Rossland.
Arne Petryshen photo
LUXURY CONDOS FOR RENT Lodging@RedResort.com or call 250-362-5553 Concierge Service Only Official RED Provider
Residents share ideas with School District 20 ARNE PETRYSHEN Rossland News Editor
Rossland cares about its schools, especially where K-12 is concerned. That was apparent Tuesday night as School District 20 invited parents, students and other residents to lay bare their thoughts on the review. Yourdistrict’s Horoscopefacilities For the Week with Michael O’Connorhowever, inside Residents, were not Horoscope the pleased West Kootenay withAdvertiser the three options For the Week placed before them, since they RosslandNews_2013_Jan13-27.pdf 12/17/2012 2:41:55 PM with Michael O’Connor all end with either Rossland
Your
inside the West Kootenay Advertiser
bank shop local local nelsoncu.com/banklocal
Secondary School or MacLean Elementary being closed. Option 1 would be to make RSS K-12 and close MacLean. Option 2 is to make RSS K-9, close MacLean and send RSS grade 10-12 students to J.L. Crowe Secondary in Trail. Option 3 is to make MacLean K-7, close RSS and send RSS grades 8-12 students to Crowe. Residents brought up the idea of innovation and ways to look at increasing the amount in the district, hoping to find a way to perhaps keep both
schools open. Superintendent Greg Luterbach painted a dire picture of the school board’s budget. According to Luterbach’s figures, Option 1 would save SD20 $145,000, Option 2 would save $285,000 and Option 3 saves $455,000. The public had some other suggestions for options, such as selling or leasing MacLean to L’école des Sept-sommets, who’s expressed serious interest and making RSS 4-12. SD20 could then work with the francophone school to house K-3
in that school. There were well over 500 residents in attendance at the meeting. The forum focused on table discussion, where each table discussed their top points for and against each option. Then 15 of the groups were chosen to share their views aloud, while the rest submitted their ideas in writing. There was also a question/ comment period at the end. Some of the points that were made highlighted the crowding that would result in all
By banking locally with our credit union, and shopping locallly with our local businesses, you ensure a vibrant community and a dynamic local economy, since decisions are kept close to home. We all share a common bond with a commitment to keeping interest local.
three scenarios. Closing RSS would also eliminate the blended learning program in Rossland and be a huge setback to the Academies programs. One suggestion was that the school district drop Rossland all together, and the city create a municipal school board. At one point in the forum, a resident asked that anyone who would consider dropping out of the district altogether if K-12 is lost stand up. This lead to about a third of the room See City on P. 3