Midway’s village council has sided with residents who want to keep the village primary school open, The Gazette heard at council’s regular meeting Monday, Feb. 7.
The Boundary Board of Education voted last December to start public consultations leading up to a board vote on whether or not to close Midway Elementary School (MES). The Boundary’s school district (SD 51) had told the board in November that splitting staff and resources between MES and Greenwood Elementary School (GES), a 15-minute drive away, made it hard to attract and retain qualified teachers and led to safety concerns around supervision.
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A group of villagers have since formed an ad-hoc committee to oppose the potential closure, Coun. Fred Grouette said at Monday’s meeting.
When the group asked for council’s opinion on Feb. 2, Grouette said, “I told them that we were 100 per cent with this committee: that we were in favour of doing whatever it takes to keep this school open.”
Doubling down on his support for the committee, Grouette said, “Personally, I think we should be right there with them. The people that are attending these meetings cover the whole spectrum of age groups in the village. To me, that shows that this is not a little thing.”
Grouette then said he would write a letter to SD 51 expressing council’s support for the committee and asking the district to prolong deliberations.
Mayor Martin Fromme said Tuesday, Feb. 8, that he and the village’s five other councillors would help Grouette craft his letter.
“I don’t want to see the school closed,” he said.
SD 51 has said MES students and staff would carry on at GES in September should the board vote to shutter the village school. Instead, Fromme said, “I’d like to see a review of how the educational process goes on at Midway Elementary and to see if it can be improved there, on the spot.”
Affected residents, including Grouette, have until Thursday, Feb. 17, to get written responses in to SD 51. The school district will then present these to the board at a public forum in Midway on Feb. 24.
The board is set to vote on MES’s future at its regular meeting on March 15.
Written submissions can be sent to SD 51 by mail at Box 640, Grand Forks, B.C., V0H 1H0, by fax at 250-442-8800, or by email at info@sd51.bc.ca. The school district will only consider submissions that include respondents’ full names.
No one at SD 51 or the board has expressed an intention or a desire to close MES.
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