OSOYOOS — The Town of Osoyoos and four parents are moving ahead with an application for a Supreme Court injunction, despite the province announcing a new fund to keep rural schools open.
Mayor Sue McKortoff said the injunction will hopefully delay the closure for a year, allowing the community and school district to investigate new ways to save Osoyoos Secondary School.
On Monday, a judge began reviewing the civil lawsuit at a Vancouver courthouse. The lawsuit alleged the closure and consultation processes were irregular and inadequate. The school district denied all of these statements.
Board Chair Marieze Tarr didn’t want to comment on the court case and said there wasn’t an update on the board’s position with the Rural Education Enhancement Fund.
When the funding was first announced, Tarr said she was grateful for the province’s commitment.
“We have asked our staff to look and ask for more details. And we, as a board, will then meet and discuss this, then we will go from there,” said Tarr on Wednesday.
Now, five days after that statement was made, McKortoff is beginning to feel discouraged.
“We feel this is this is a perfect opportunity for the school board to get engaged in this and so far, we have not seen them do that. So, we’re quite disheartened,” she said.
The Supreme Court decision is expected later this week.
Comments