Photo: Castanet Staff

The provincial government has granted three schools in the South Okanagan at least one more year of oxygen, with funding announced today through the province's rural education enhancement fund.

School Districts 67 and 53 received the expected $1.1M needed to keep the doors of Trout Creek and West Bench Elementary and Osoyoos Secondary open, but in the long term, the continued operation of the schools is still up in the air.

“Next time around, it won’t be easy, it’s not a done deal,” SD 67 Board Chair Linda Van Alphen said, referring to the annual application the school district has to make for the funding to keep the schools open.

Van Alphen said the school district remains in the dark about the application process for next year, mainly because the definition for what exactly constitutes a rural or remote school is currently being debated.

“This year was a guarantee,” she said, adding that it appears the province made the criteria fit SD 67’s threatened schools. “Next year, it’s not going to be that easy.”

SD 53 board chair Marieze Tarr confirmed that they too would have to apply for the funding each year.

The potential closures of the schools last year sparked large protests in Penticton, Summerland and Osoyoos.