Board members to decide next week on fate of North Okanagan-Shuswap schools

NORTH OKANAGAN – Communities are expected to learn the fate of schools in Armstrong, Salmon Arm and Enderby next week.

After over two hours of discussion Tuesday, Feb. 2, the North Okanagan-Shuswap board of education decided to bring several recommendations forward for consideration at a Feb. 9 meeting.

In Armstrong, the recommendation is to amalgamate the current four schools into two K-7 elementary schools and one 8-12 secondary school.

In Salmon Arm, the board will consider the feasibility of moving to a one-campus model for Salmon Arm Secondary, and amalgamating Silver Creek Elementary and Salmon Arm West Elementary into one.

For the Enderby area, the board is looking at doing a catchment review of M.V. Beattie, Grindrod and Ranchero schools to determine the most effective manner of reorganizing them to accommodate future enrolment increases in the Enderby area.

Any motion which leads to a school configuration change would require a 60-day consultation period.

School trustees determined the recommendations after receiving public input at three town hall meetings and via letters and emails.

Previous stories on the possible school closures and reconfigurations can be found here. 

To contact a reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infonews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.