Confirming a decision to greenlight a new secondary school for the Westside should have been a happy occasion for Central Okanagan Public Schools board of education trustees on Wednesday night.

But instead, school trustees expressed frustration about being backed into a decision to repurpose the 脡cole George Pringle Elementary school as the site for the new high school, dismayed by the disruption the move will cause for current English and French Immersion students now at that school and how past board decisions have forced their hand.

sa国际传媒淚 believe creating a new secondary school should be one of those happy days, but instead, I feel angry, frustrated, disappointed, and really cansa国际传媒檛 believe we are in this spot,sa国际传媒� said Chantelle Desrosiers, the West Kelowna school trustee.

sa国际传媒淭his is the last place I wanted to go, the last thing I wanted to do, and it is so sad previous school boards made a decision a long time ago to get rid of the land we so desperately need now for new schools.sa国际传媒�

Desrosiers was referring to a decision nearly 20 years ago to then repurpose George Pringle from a secondary to elementary school, a controversial decision at the time.

sa国际传媒淚f George Pringle had been left a secondary school site, wesa国际传媒檇 all be in a better space right now,sa国际传媒� she said.

The trusteesa国际传媒檚 frustration centres around the student impact of the new secondary school site selection: English students at Pringle will be moved to an upgraded Webber Road Elementary, currently being used as a community centre for youth programs; while French Immersion students face two options - all be shuttled off together to Glenrosa Elementary or split up between Glenrosa and Hudson Road schools.

Board chair Moyra Baxter said all possible land acquisition options for a new secondary school were exhausted, but to meet all the prerequisites for a secondary school came down to only one available site.

Similar to the predicament facing a lack of land in Rutland for a replacement middle school, urban growth has absorbed West Kelownasa国际传媒檚 available land, the restrictions imposed by city land within the Agricultural Land Reserve, and the Webber road site in part currently categorized as an Indigenous archaeological preservation site.

To not move forward at this time left the school board facing further delays in funding for the new school by the ministry of education and Mount Boucherie Secondary School (MBSS) unable to handle the student enrolment demands by 2029.

Baxter said she was sa国际传媒渦tterly ashamedsa国际传媒� at the boardsa国际传媒檚 decision in years past to change the status of George Pringle as a secondary school, something she fought against as a trustee at that time.

She said back then, the idea of not being able to find another school site was not a serious concern and has left MBSS in its current predicament of being overcrowded and having to add portables now on a yearly basis along with potentially absorbing Westside French Immersion students facing transfer out of overcrowded 脡cole Kelowna Secondary.

sa国际传媒淎t the end of the day, the board made a decision. But I told you so; I had to say that,sa国际传媒� she said in revisiting the frustration she felt then.

sa国际传媒淚 can say categorically no other school district did the drastic things we did, selling school properties to gain a million dollars here and a million dollars there. It costs $250,000 today to put up each new portable at our schools so that million dollars doesnsa国际传媒檛 go very far anymore.sa国际传媒�

Trustee Norah Bowman said she understood the frustration of affected parents who this week only publicly learned of the George Pringle option three days before Wednesdaysa国际传媒檚 board meeting.

Bowman said because land deals have to be discussed and negotiated in-camera, it was not as public a process as the trustees would have preferred.

sa国际传媒淣one of us take this decision lightly and we are unified in looking out for the well-being of the students who will be impacted,sa国际传媒� she said.

Trustee Lee-Ann Tiede added her support for Bowmansa国际传媒檚 comments, saying: sa国际传媒淚 do agree we all take this very seriously and this is not an easy decision, but it is one we do have to make.sa国际传媒�

With the board approving the George Pringle repurposing option, a consultation process will begin this September to seek public input on student relocation solutions, school catchment and transportation issues, with the final decision to be adopted next spring for implementation in September 2022.