There must be something in the soil in Dunster, BC. 

Rolling farms shielded by the Monashee mountains produce character forged of sterner stuff, where hope springs eternal and the winds whisper never say die.

For the past six months, this attitude has been front and centre in the community, as it refuses to allow the plug to be pulled on the Dunster Fine Arts School.

Down to 27 students in an aging building, facing budget cuts at the provincial level and a report that tells all the school doesn’t make fiscal sense to operate, concerned citizens and parents saw not a crisis, but an opportunity to prove once again the hearth that burns in the Dunster school fuels more than minds – it breeds community.

Less than a decade removed from the last battle to shut down the school with a bad roof, the spectre of closure loomed again. The school board voted to shut it down, citing declining enrolment and heavily mounting bills.

But the community was undeterred.

Now, with six weeks before school is set to begin again, parents and citizens continue to rage against the dying of the light. Sit-ins and protests, strategy sessions at the ice cream social and an unrelenting push to keep the school open is in full force. The province has written a letter showing their support to make a deal, and the Regional District is meeting frequently with parents to produce a solution.

The attitude is infectious. School Board District 57, which produced the reports that demonstrated it was financially unsustainable to run the school, now state they are on side to reach a deal. Superintendent Brian Pepper says the board is supportive of the community efforts and is willing to work out a deal once the proper steps are taken. 

According to Pepper, those steps are unpredictable, but not impossible.

In order for the school to be saved by September, four steps must happen. The school board has already stated they will look at an arrangement where a third party owns the school (such as a not-for-profit organization) and they provide the teachers. Check one. The Regional District or the newly formed not-for-profit must produce a five-year business plan to purchase and run the school. According to spokesperson Chris Taylor, this will be completed by Monday. Check two. The Ministry of Education must approve or dismiss the sale. Since the ministry has written a letter supporting the model, it is safe to say this step should occur quickly. Check three. Finally, the school board and the new school owner will need to negotiate a deal for offering classes. According to Pepper, there is already precedent for this kind of model, however he cannot offer assurances until the other steps are complete.

There are a lot of ‘what ifs’ involved in the above situation, however it appears through hard work and a willingness to look beyond the dollars and cents of a closure.

Thanks to the hard work of parents and citizens in Dunster, the fight continues, and the students may not need to find new classrooms in McBride and Valemount.

For another day in Dunster, the wind still whispers never say die.