PENTICTON – Penticton MLA Dan Ashton announced today that Trout Creek Elementary and West Bench Elementary Schools will receive $369,815 and $369,404 respectively, from the provincial government through the new Rural Education Enhancement Fund.

For months, many parents have been working tirelessly with the MLA, the Ministry of Education and the School Board to keep these two schools open. With this new funding, both schools will be able to continue to provide an education to students and essential community services.

“These schools are a foundation of both of these communities” says Ashton. “I would like to thank the community for working together to stand up for the students, and I’m delighted to have been able to obtain funding that will ensure the continued operation of these two very important schools. It is critically important that the municipalities, the regional district, the school board, and citizens, all start to work together to ensure the continued viability of not only our schools, but our communities.”

On June 15th, Premier Christy Clark announced the creation of this ongoing fund to keep schools in rural areas of the province in operation. This funding comes as a part of the Rural Education Strategy that will examine rural school district budgets in communities outside the Lower Mainland, Greater Victoria and Kelowna. The strategy aims to find solutions for the unique challenges facing rural school districts, while recognizing the economic impact of rural schools in small communities.