By ROY WOOD

Oliver council will send a letter of support to Osoyoos council as it works to keep its high school open in the face of threats of closure from the school district.

“We’ll let Osoyoos know we’re thinking about them,” said Mayor Ron Hovanes in directing staff to write a letter to be signed by council.

All members of council supported the idea, some with the caveat that they do not want to be seen to be telling school trustees how to do their jobs as elected representatives.

“We should express our support,” said Councillor Larry Schwartzenberger, “but I would really not want to say that trustees should act this way or that way.”

Councillor Jack Bennest urged council “not to get into the minutiae” of possible solutions to the board’s financial situation. “Our sentiment should be that no community should lose its school.”

Injecting a note of caution into the discussion of Oliver’s position, Hovanes said: “The last thing we want to see is our schools closing down.”

Facing declining enrollments and a structural operating deficit, school district #53 senior staff recently proposed either closing Osoyoos Secondary School completely or converting it to a kindergarten-to-grade-9 school.

A series of public consultations is occurring now and the board will make a decision on April 6.