How many meetings did it take for the issue of Rossland Secondary School closure to pop up in the newly elected school board’s discussions? We’ll give you one guess, since there’s only been one meeting.
While the subject was not on the agenda, it was surely on the minds of some of the board members, as the seemingly innocent issues of lead piping in RSS and MacLean Elementary set off a tirade of escalating attacks on this city’s schools.
What would be the reason for accepting $50,000 to be used on an RSS playground if it were to close in the next few years? Why should the school district spend its hard earned dollars on clean drinking water for schools that essentially have been already dealt the death knell?
Or, wait a second, are we jumping ahead of ourselves? Isn’t that what the school district trustees are doing by opening up a debate about closing RSS in their inaugural meeting? As Rossland’s trustee stated at the meeting, the school district is sending a dark message to the parents, children and people of Rossland, and that message is that we are going to be fighting an uphill battle with the rest of the enormous district to keep any sort of public school in Rossland.
If the school district does close Rossland Secondary then it will be next to impossible to ever reopen the school. We don’t need to reiterate the benefits of having a school in Rossland, since any parent or child in the system will know that already.
Rossland has been fighting an uphill battle with a district that has far more representation from Trail, Castlegar and the areas between.
Joining advocacy groups like Visions for Small Schools can help make small Rossland voices heard against the clatter of the district discussion.