Hunger Strike to Save Wells School Continues;
Wells School Enrollment Higher Than Last Year
For immediate release Tuesday, August 27, 2002
A hunger strike which has logged more than 130 person-days continues today with Luis Alberto D'Elia of Edmonton going on a one-day fast to protest against closing the Wells-Barkerville Elementary School. D'Elia, a Canadian citizen who was tortured as a political prisoner in Argentina, is the 52nd person to take part in this remarkable protest.
The drastic action, which began July 16, drew national attention after two prominent Wells residents endangered their health by lengthy fasts. Claire Kujundzic, the Vice-president of the Wells and District Chamber of Commerce, ended her fast after 12 days when she suffered heart damage. Mayor David Hendrixson, who's in his seventies, persevered for 33 days, and stopped on August 25 after his blood pressure dropped, his pulse increased, and he began experiencing leg cramps. Kujundzic and Hendrixson have been joined for one to five days by prominent artists, civic leaders, labour leaders, and other concerned citizens from BC and across North America. The hunger strikers and hundreds of others who have written letters and signed petitions say it is wrong to send children as young as five on a 77-kilometre bus ride each way to attend school in Quesnel; the longest bus ride faced by elementary school children in the province.
Tomorrow, August 28, Quesnel School Board Trustees meet for the first time since their narrow four-three vote on July 3 to close the school. Dave Jorgenson, the spokesperson for the Wells Save Our School Committee, will present details of a cost-sharing proposal to keep the school open; similar to one which kept open three rural schools in the Prince George School District. "I'm confident that when they hear the details of this proposed public partnership between the school district and the District of Wells, and if they're at all reasonable people, they'll rethink and reverse their decision."
to Press Release (April 24, 2002)
to Press Release
(May 9, 2002)
Jorgenson will also tell trustees that enrollment has increased. "If the Wells school remains open, we've determined that 18 children would register, an increase of three from last year, or 20%. This flies in the face of their continuing insistence that enrollment is declining. That may be true across the school district, but not in Wells," he says. He also wonders how many potential students have been lost. He knows of at least two businesses hiring employees this summer where applicants with families withdrew because of uncertainty about the school. He’s also aware of a family with five children who decided to leave Wells after the school closure decision.
Jorgenson also points out that 15 of the 18 Wells children will not be registered with the Quesnel School District if the decision is not reversed, resulting in a loss of $80,000 in revenues. "How does closing the Wells School save the school district money?" he asks. "The trustees made their original decision in haste, and based on faulty information. We believe thatwhen presented with all the facts, they will do the right thing, the economical thing, and return our school to us," Jorgenson says.
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For more information contact Dave Jorgenson
250 994 2345
