Letters sent to The Premier, Minister of Education, MLA's and Quesnel School District Trustees...
July 30, 2002
To All School Board Trustees,
School District #28
Attention:
Louise Scott, Jim Girvin, Caroline Nielsen, Sandy Robertson, Don Cunningham,
Karen Andrews, Shirley Demers
Re: Closure of Wells School
I am writing to appeal to you as individuals to use the authority and the powers available to you as a School Board Trustee to reopen the issue of the future of the Wells Elementary School. It is my understanding that provisions exist to enable the School Board to meet formally and to reconsider the collective decision that has been made to close the school.
I have read the brief of the Wells Save Our School Committee that was presented to the School Board for consideration. Quite frankly, the arguments put forward by this group are compelling and clearly suggest that the school district has not carefully considered this matter. I will not review this detailed presentation in depth except to say that from the financial, the child safety and from the community health and the community economic future perspectives, your collective decision to close down the Wells school is at the least ill-considered and unfortunate and at the worst it is tragic.
We live in a specific political climate, we have a provincial government that is making sweeping and significant changes in virtually all service areas. Many of us have been prepared to accept these changes in the interest of fiscal responsibility. But there is a point where decisions to implement cuts and changes become mean-spirited and destructive. In the case of the Wells school, that line has been crossed.
We are now haunted by the awareness of members of the community of Wells going without food for days and weeks because they believe so strongly that your collective decision to shut down their school is wrong. These people are gentle caring individuals who work tirelessly, just as you do, to make a contribution to their community. They have no vested interest in the school system, they have no children registered in classes, they will not "profit" if their school remains open. They simply believe in what is good, right and just and they are now rendered powerless. They see no other recourse but to starve themselves, in the hope that their actions will kindle an awareness that what is happening is very wrong. As School Trustees, you have the authority and the power to make a difference.
The Wells Elementary School should remain open. Use the next year to address the identified issues creatively. The Save Our School Committee has made a proposal to you, based on the model that was developed in the Prince George School District to save rural schools. In this proposal they guarantee a number of things, among them the fact that if the enrolment of the school falls below a pre-determined number, the community will guarantee that School District #28 will receive the pre-agreed funding. The people of Wells know about running schools, each year they host people from throughout the province at the Island Mountain School of the Arts. Give them time to implement their creative proposals regarding stewardship of the school building, maintaining student enrolment and enhancing the curriculum. There are other options that can be pursued but they all require time.
This morning the mayor of Wells, Dave Hendrixson was interviewed on CBC radio. As you know he is one of those who is fasting in protest of your collective decision to close the Wells school. He shared some quotes from a letter that he had received from the premier of our province. The premier indicated that if our School Trustees cannot do the job then perhaps it is time to consider some other form of governance. If these sentiments are accurate, don't you feel that you too are a powerless pawn in this whole issue, and that you are simply being used to implement a one-size-fits-all political agenda? We need you to engender some reason, caring and sensitivity into this debate and I urge you to call a special meeting of the School Board and to reconsider the collective decision that was made to close the Wells school.
Yours sincerely,
Jeffrey Dinsdale
Quesnel, BC
cc. John Wilson, MLA Cariboo North
Christy Clark, Min. of Education
