School closures are community crushing decisions.

Often the heart of the community, doubling as community centres and locations for public meetings, schools serve a greater purpose than a simple place to learn. They are locations were children grow and life lessons are planted.

So it’s difficult to watch the town of Dunster struggle with the loss of its fine arts school. The community rallied together to allow the building to achieve a fine arts designation in 1998, staving off the loss of the school completely. Twenty-seven musicians, artists and dancers are currently being trained at the school. They may need to find new schools if a proposal to close the school and 13 others is accepted by B.C. School District No. 57 to cut $7 million from the budget.

But the province’s tough line on school funding means closures are in the cards. It currently costs $14,000 to educate a student in Dunster, which is more than double the rate in the rest of the school board. That makes it an easy target for district trustees and administrators.

The solution is beyond bake sales and community fundraisers. The province cut grant funding, required green programs and other staff costs are increasing. The schools already explore other partnerships, leasing space to other members, so there isn’t much else they can do.

Demand a restoration of funding or face closure.

Yet does the closure of the school kill the community? What size of community is considered sustainable for a school?

The Robson Valley obviously faces challenges beyond low school numbers. Its main employer gone, with little on the horizon other than a controversial casino deal in Valemount, the community must work harder than ever to attract sustainable businesses that will build a brighter future.

Urbanization and the death of the logging industry are just two factors playing into the erosion of small town life in the valley, which must now take this opportunity to reshape itself.

A school is an integral piece of a healthy community. It will help keep families in the area, and attract others. Valemount is fortunate to have a state of the art high school, with a theatre and gymnasium that is frequently used by the rest of the community.

Those who want to see schools in rural communities must lobby their MLAs to keep the funds flowing. Increased demands from the school board should be accompanied with the proper funding. Rural schools continue to have unique demands, such as higher busing and infrastructure costs.

Ideally, the calibre of core educational opportunities should be equal to those in the rest of the board. Students in the Robson Valley are blessed with extra outdoor education opportunities, however that doesn’t mean they should sacrifice cuts in other locations.

Dunster Elementary School has staved off closure once before. Now the town must consider a long term plan for the future of its school, or finally cut the cord and suffer the consequences.