Save Our School, Wells


	Save Our School Wells
		by Neva Hohn The locks on the Wells Barkerville Elementary School have been changed. Someone is coming to take away the chairs, the library books, the kitchen equipment and the piano. They’ll take down pictures of happier times from the walls and no one will mow the grass on the playing field or shovel the piles of snow once winter sets in. But Wells children still play on the swings and the round-about in the school yard and the community is adamant that the school will reopen, even if some children have to be home-schooled for the first months of this 2002 school year. When a letter came in April from our school trustees declaring there were too few children, and too many costs, to allow the school to remain open it was a huge blow to our tiny town.
The children, from Kindergarten to Grade 7, would have to be bussed to Quesnel, they declared, almost 80 kms away. The building would be sold. And, even though they offered a 60-day public consultation period, our feeling was that the final decision had already been made. Bussing the children was the first thing we opposed. Even the very young would have to rise at 5:45 or earlier for school and ride down a steep, twisting icy highway in the dark. The bus has no seat belts and no washrooms. The trip takes over an hour, and then the children arrive at a school where frequent parent-volunteer interaction and the familiarity and safety of Wells is a sad memory. Then, the same dreary jostling ride back home at the end of the day, too late to play with friends, too tired to communicate. This was totally unacceptable. After the first shock, we began to see how the economy of the town itself would suffer from the school board's decision. "How are we going to attract people to the community," said Mayor Dave Hendrixson, " if we don’t have a school?" Wells is at the virtual end of Hwy. 26, and even with 50 new destination casino jobs this year, the prospect of increased mining exploration, and being named BC’s first "Gateway" community for back-country tourism and recreation, Wells, without a school, can attract only commuters. Our forecast: houses will remain empty, land prices will fall. Hesitation in the community lasted only a heartbeat. A Save Our School committee organized immediately, and residents were eager to volunteer and research this cost cutting measure, the impact of bussing, and support to try to reverse the decision. Parents, their businesses beleaguered by the slow onset of the tourist season, labored tirelessly while others provided backup, babysitting, and meals. Wells Council offered to forgive the school its utility fees in return for one year’s reprieve, and also to take back the historic three storey building, leasing the school district just enough space for the 15 plus children and finding other uses for the remaining space. Enthusiasm was high; letters of support started to pour in. We organized a media campaign, local artist Bill Horne set up a web page, and an "extraordinary coalition" sprang into being. Artists, miners, business people, the local minister, and politicians from past and present came together at a high school auditorium in Quesnel and, for four hours, gave testimony to the value of the school and the dangers of closure. Through it all, those listening learned that Wells’ elementary children have excelled in every walk of life because they live and learn in a small happy town, whose close-knit volunteers and dedicated schoolteacher have paved the way to success. Here, music, art, drama, skiing and hiking in season have been common activities for all the children, in addition to award-winning academics. And Wells-schooled children have been on the honor rolls in high school because of the skills they have learned in our safe, committed community. "Unharden your hearts," pleaded Quesnel businessman John Brisco to the school board trustees. At the beginning of July, with the new casino and the businesses in Barkerville, eight kms away, taking on summer crowds, the expectation in Wells was that Save Our School had done all that was necessary to convince the trustees to reverse their decision. But, despite letters, phone calls, media coverage and 60-days of "public consultation," the vote cast was four to three against the Wells School. And still, not so much as one word in reply from the trustees to the offers, arguments and carefully researched suggestions of our community. Another town might have become resigned to the virtual loss of school children and the attendant economic slowdown. But in Wells, our community was just warming up. After an initial reaction of grief, anger and denial, Save Our School regrouped for another round. With the skills of many talented locals to draw on, we continued to battle the Trustees’ decision on every ground. We staged a demonstration outside the school district office, with the children, in costume, solving the dilemma in a humorous five-minute play. The decision to withhold the Small Communities Supplement for Wells, worth $100,000 a year, came under attack. "They’re taking our money, closing our school and using it to help avoid making tough choices in Quesnel," said Dave Jorgenson, parent and Save Our School spokesperson. These "tough choices", ironically enough, were then found to include, among other things, a raise for the Trustees, for an amount well over what it would have taken to keep the Wells School open. Dave Hendrixson, the Mayor of Wells decided it was all too much. "I thought at the very least they would try to negotiate with us for improved cost cutting measures…but it looks like they had their mind made up from the beginning." he said. Wells Council launched an extensive campaign to pull Christy Clark, Minister of Education, into the debate, calling upon her to "take an active role in ensuring that our educational tax dollars are responsibly spent." However, with the Liberal Government in punitive offload mode, the school district was allowed to take the $100,000 Small Community Supplement to use as it wished, and did not wish to use it to keep the Wells School open. Then, Wells resident artist and social activist Claire Kujundzic, though not a parent, began a hunger strike. Joined quickly by other residents, and also dissenting trustee Karen Andrews, Opposition MLA Jenny Kwan, author Susan Musgrave and a score of others, Claire set out to create a large media event to draw attention to the plight of the community. "My depriving myself of food is nothing to what the kids will be deprived of," Claire pointed out, "and, in a way, it’s sort of a metaphor for what they are doing to our community, forcing us to dry up. A town without a school dies, is what I think." From everywhere, newspaper, radio and television reporters began to call, taking up the story of how one little town was bucking the system, fighting the injustice of its school closure and building solidarity throughout small communities province-wide With the school year underway, the battle continues. The hunger strike, past its 100th day, continues, rallying those who think Wells deserves to keep its school and a fighting chance at economic independence. Mayor Hendrixson went on his own hunger strike for more than five weeks. "I vowed I would continue until this was settled." said the active 70-something politician. BC Federation of Labour president, Jim Sinclair, joined the hunger strike for five days, saying that the Wells fight for its school "has become a symbol for rural BC", which is facing the brunt of the Liberal cuts to local health care, courts, heritage preservation and education. Quesnel Mayor Steve Wallace and Councillor Mike Doyle have also joined the strike, and sympathetic calls and letter keep pouring in. "You can’t just tell us at the end of the school year that we don’t have a school anymore. We should at least be given time to come up with some alternatives." Wells’ Council is considering legal action. Members see the process as a faulty one, which causes economic hardship. The local parent’s advisory committee is requesting that the province appoint a special advisor. The neighboring city of Quesnel is asking for mediation. Talk radio shows have opened their airwaves to the debate and the response has been overwhelming. Through it all, the indomitable spirit of Wells' community has prevailed, and has been unwavering in its solidarity and commitment, despite disappointments and hardships. The number of our supporters is growing daily. It brings us, if not the assurance of success, the reassurance that children, community and cooperation are what really count in our fight for justice in the small safe town of Wells and its school. (Neva Hohn is a member of Save Our School.) For more information about the campaign contact: Dave Jorgenson, spokesperson for the Wells-Barkerville-Bowron Save Our School Committee, Tel: (250) 994 2345 whitegold@wellsbc.com Dave Hendrixson, Mayor, District of Wells, Tel: (250) 994 3330. Judy Campbell, Councillor, District of Wells, Tel: (250) 994-3349. Dorothea Funk, Island Mountain Arts, toll free 1-800-442-2787, or www.imarts.com See also www.claireart.ca/strike.htm
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