A West Bench Elementary student made a passionate plea to School District 67 trustees on Tuesday.

“West Bench is the best school ever. Please don’t close it,” said Jack MacIntosh, who’s attending his final year at the school, at a community meeting where the trustees are listening to public opinion on school closures in the face of declining enrolment.

Noting the potential for serious health and cultural impacts, parents of West Bench Elementary students are asking their community’s school be removed from the list of those identified for possible closure.

“Our whole community is dependent on that school. It’s how we stay connected, it’s how our friends know their neighbours, and we think that’s pretty important,” said Riley Gettens on behalf of the West Bench Parent Advisory Council.

Persistent concerns about smart meters have prompted a group of local politicians to call on the B.C. government to pull the plug on further installations of the devices in the region. 

“It’s easy to be silent, but sometimes it’s important to take a stand and get a message out, and it doesn’t have to be based on perfect information,” said Tom Siddon, who led the push for an immediate moratorium from his seat as the Area D director on the board of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen.