SD58 board votes to close Merritt’s Collettville Elementary at the end of the school year

An elementary school in Merritt will be closing at the end of the academic year.

During Wednesday’s (March 11) regular meeting, the Nicola-Similkameen School District (SD58) Board of Education voted to close Collettville Elementary School on June 30, 2026, and move the French Immersion program to Merritt Central Elementary.

It was one of four options presented to the board. Alternatives included no school closure, closing Merritt Central and transferring students to Collettville while moving the French Immersion program to Diamond Vale Elementary, or closing Collettville and moving the French Immersion program to Diamond Vale.

SD58 Board Chair Gordon Swan said during the meeting he and the trustees were looking at the best of four bad options and aimed to lessen the harm applied to affected students.

“We also know if we don’t have industry coming to town four years from now, we’re going to be talking about the number of kids through attrition is going to equal another school. I’m not sure how we’re going to manage that right now,” Swan said.

Swan acknowledged a plea from Merritt Mayor Mike Goetz to delay the closure decision by another year, banking on the city’s industry to bring in families with more children. According to Swan, the city hasn’t responded to the board when asked if the municipality would cover the school district’s shortfall if the hypothetical influx of children wouldn’t be attending school.

The board also acknowledged a petition that garnered more than 600 signatures that called for the delay of deciding on a school closure. Trustee Justin Jepsen said that would result in nearly $500,000 in cuts or layoffs within the district, similar to when the board made cuts to Grade 7 band programming, transportation and school board office staff.

“Taking that money out of the classroom even more seems irresponsible, from my perspective,” Jepsen said.

The move to close a school could save SD58 between $400,000 and $600,000.

SD58’s projections out to 2031 forecasts a decline of 227 students in Merritt and 20 students in Princeton. The district adds it is down by more than 500 students over the past 20 years. The district is not anticipating further funding from the provincial government.

SD58 began the process of exploring the closure of a school in 2025 amid budget pressures.