I went to see and hear what all the candidates running for school trustee have to say about education issues at the trustee forum at Springwood Middle School. I came away more convinced than ever that it is time for a change.
It angers me that the incumbent school board trustees still do not get it. While they now claim that school trustees never considered closing schools, this is not true. How do I know? The Matrix Report and the October 2010 meeting at which it was presented to the public. If the trustees were not looking at closing schools, then why was this report ever presented at a public meeting? Why was the public asked to focus on three options — all of which included closing at least one school?
If the trustees were not seriously considering closing schools to deal with decreased funding in light of declining enrolment, then why did they not reject the report?
The meeting was an attempt to present a report that looked only at numbers and only at the easiest, quickest, least imaginative way of making the numbers work.
If you want a board of trustees that will look at alternative ways of presenting a balanced budget while keeping schools open and in the communities they serve, you must elect a new whole new board of trustees.
Ruth Mandt, Qualicum Beach