Controversies in Education in Kamloops

The citizens of Kamloops have always been passionate about their schools. This, I believe, centers on their sincere wish that the young people of Kamloops will receive the best possible preparation to live prosperous, moral and productive lives.

Public controversies about KHS and KSS include:

During the summer of 1903 government permission for a high school was at last received. A delegation of Kamloops’ leading businessmen attended a City Council meeting to argue against the School trustee’s request for a grant to be used to help build the high school. The businessmen wanted the money to go to Kamloops College. Private enterprise won the day and the grant went to the private college which apparently offered good tuition under T.A. Brough. The trustees were not happy since fees were far too high for the majority of families to send their children to high school.

In June 1904 the controversy once again came before City Council with M.P. Gordon representing the College shareholders, and Edmonds and Proctor representing the trustees. This time, the council sided with the School Trustees and a grant of $735 was provided to assist with the operation of a public High School. Aaron Perry was appointed principal and Kamloops High School began in rented quarters with a school population of 25.¹

During the first year of operation Kamloops Public School (1907), which included elementary and high school classes at third and St. Paul Street, there was an early form of student rebellion. Two new trustees, J.D. Swanson and Thomas Howell, felt that May day celebrations did not appropriately reflect Christian values and were at best, a waste of time and, at worst, were damaging to the egos of the queen and contestants. They outvoted Trustee Hopwood and ordered the celebration cancelled. The sponsoring Fire Department, however, had already planned the ceremonies; so had the pupils. Despite the Board’s ruling May Day proceeded as usual, with the school open but with no pupils in attendance. Swanson and Howell resigned; at the ensuing by-election they were soundly defeated. The new trustees were not averse to allowing pupils to have an annual fling on May day.²

The plans for a new high school, eventually build in 1952, began as early as 1944. The original plans were ambitious and included ten acres of land to be used for an agricultural school. Following the Cameron Commission, in 1945, a number of rural districts had been amalgamated with the Kamloops District. Plans for the school had to be approved by ratepayers throughout the amalgamated district. Rural ratepayers argued that the rural children were being shortchanged. Many ratepayers in Kamloops thought the plans were too ambitious and too expensive. Teachers pleaded with the public to vote for proper facilities as by 1948 the old high school had become very crowded. Those who argued against the referendum won the day in 1948 as the referendum failed to pass. There were many stormy session and meetings of School Trustees before the revised referendum, which included some upgrading to rural schools, a dormitory for use by rural students, was finally passed in 1951.

As the controversy about the High School subsided, a new controversy began. Teacher’s salaries had not increased during the war years and, while there had been some gains since 1945, teachers believed their salaries were not comparable to other professions or even skilled trade workers. Furthermore, female teachers continued to be reimbursed on a salary scale that was not equal to that paid to male teachers. Tension was evident at public meetings during which members of the teacher’s bargaining committee and school trustees became engaged in the debate over appropriate salaries and/or affordable salaries. In the end, the concept of “equal pay for equal work” was accepted and teachers, while not getting what they had hoped to, did make substantial gains in the new contract. It took some time to “heal the wounds” of personal exchanges made during these negotiations.

Does Albert exist? Custodians and others reported a mysterious ghost talking in the rafters of the High School auditorium that opened in 1954. Albert’s voice could distinctly be heard during the quiet hours when the theater was in darkness. Some maintained this was a ghost. Others suggested a fluke length of wire in the rafters transmitted radio reception. Albert was all the more real when ceiling tiles of the aging high school theatre used to occasionally drop on those below. Believers are convinced that Albert moved into the Sagebrush Theatre when it replaced the old High School Auditorium.

Beginning about 1986 a public controversy began over the future of Kamloops Senior Secondary. Should the School continue to be a senior secondary? By serving the educational needs of grade 11 and grade 12 students only the school could offer more specialized and enrichment classes and programs. Yet the provincial trend was to grade 8-12 secondary schools. Grade 8-10 schools were more economic and provided more students the opportunity to participate in extra-curricular activities. After many public meetings, letters to newspapers, a law suit, delegations to School Board meetings and much debate and input from the public, the Board of School Trustees decided to make all secondary schools in the District 8-12 schools effective September 1998.

Declining school enrolment combined with the resultant shortage of funds caused the Board to once again seek public input as to the future KSS. Starting in 2003 Kamloops Secondary and John Peterson Secondary were merged to form South Kamloops Secondary School. See 2002/2003 the last year for "Kam High"!