EAGLE VALLEY
NEWS
District looking into curbside waste collection Page 2
Eagles welcome new head coach Ty Davidson Page 8
Wednesday, March 11, 2015 PM40008236
Vol. 60 No. 10 Sicamous, B.C., • 1.25 (GST included) • www.eaglevalleynews.com
Fin detail: Potter Barry Jones helps Parkview Elementary student Scott Rokosh with the finishing touches on his clay fish during the School District #83 Art Fair, held Wednesday at the Mall at Piccadilly in Salmon Arm. Photo by Lachlan Labere
School board to review proposed changes/closures
Sicamous: Plan suggests partial closure at Parkview, middle-school model for Eagle River. By Tracy Hughes
Eagle Valley News
School board trustees are considering plans that could see the closure of several elementary schools and the re-organization of others to deal with declining student enrolment and budget pressures. The long-term facility plan makes a number of recommendations for the 2015 school year including the closure of Silver Creek Elementary for September 2015 and reconfiguring the grade levels at Ranchero Elementary, Parkview Elementary in Sicamous, Falkland Elementary and North Shuswap Elementary. The 10-year plan focuses on dealing with the budget impacts and meeting the needs of
5,500 students, down from 8,000 a decade ago. “We have to take a look at what this means,” says board chair Bobbi Johnson. “We have half-empty schools.” The school board will not be making an immediate decision on the recommendations at, but instead will be deciding whether to initiate the 60-day community consultation process on the proposed changes. “Nothing will be decided right away, but we have to put these options out there as part of the process. We might decide to do some, we might decide not to do any. I can’t say what we will do, but we have to do something with all these empty spaces,” says Johnson.
Nothing will be decided right away… I can’t say what we will do, but we do have to do something with all these empty spaces. Bobbi Johnson SD#83 School board chair
Public meetings will be held in each of the affected areas to allow for community input. A final decision on any school closures and reconfigurations will take place at the board meeting in May.
The decision on whether to proceed with the consultation process on the recommended changes was made at Tuesday evening’s school board meeting which took place after the News’ press deadline. The five options being considered for the 2015 school year include: • Convert Parkview Elementary in Sicamous from a K-7 to K-5 school, close a “significant portion of Parkview Elementary and create a Grade 6-8, “middle school within a school” program using existing space at Eagle River Secondary; • The closure of Silver Creek Elementary. The report indicates the school district will review redistributing the Silver Creek elementary students to either Hillcrest or See Parkview closure on page 2