Kwalikum Secondary School

Kwalikum Secondary
File:Kss aerial.jpg KSS is at the centre of the image above the playing fields
Address
Box 1000 266 Village Way Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, V9K 1T7 Canada
Coordinates
Information
School type	Public, High/Secondary school
School board	School District 69 Qualicum
Principal	Ms L Marshall
Grades	8-12
Enrollment	~750 (January 16, 2006)
Language	English/French/Japanese
Team name	Kondors
Website	kss.sd69.bc.ca

Kwalikum Secondary School is a public high school located in Qualicum Beach, British Columbia part of School District 69 Qualicum.

Courses

Kwalikum Secondary is a medium-size high school that is located in the Oceanside community area on Vancouver Island. The school's areas of strength are its academic, technology and music programs. A unique feature of the school is its Honours Society, which provides incentives for a few academic students to excel. The school has a large woodwork shop, and well-equipped automotive and metal shop. The computer to student ratio is 1:3, and there are five large computer labs. All classrooms have a computer for the teacher, and many have small round pods of computers for student use. The school has over 25 display projectors, many of which are permanently installed.

Staff

A list of Kwalikum Secondary's staff can be located at KSS' Staff Page.

Location

Kwalikum Secondary is located in the scenic Qualicum Beach. It is situated 5 minutes walking distance from the town square and 10 minutes from the scenic sandy beaches of Qualicum.

Qualicum School District facilities review

On October 2, 2010, the school district announced that they are considering closing KSS and requiring that its students attend Ballenas Secondary School in Parksville. Local politicians and citizens have announced that they intend to fight this prospect. The final facilities review report by Matrix Consultants is available online

At its meeting in March 2011, the SD 69 Board of Education acknowledged that its efforts in 2010 to be transparent with the community about enrollment challenges and possible solutions involving school closure scenarios, had the opposite effect to the Board’s intentions, and therefore did not serve the needs of the Board nor of the community. The Board has now approved a series of recommendations in support of its commitment that any decisions about school reorganization will be reached only after a comprehensive engagement with the community. This process of engagement will provide School District 69 community members access to multiple opportunities to understand the impact of student enrollment on funding and educational programs and services, and to share their ideas with the Board. To this end, in March 2011, the Board has initiated a comprehensive process to create a forum for discussing all the important perspectives related to this issue, and will defer any decision on potential school closures until the spring of 2012. Updated information on the facilities review can be found on the School District 69 website.

Community response to the facilities review

Oceanside Communitites for Quality Education (OCQE) was formed in response to a considered closure of the community's only high school. OCQE has participated in three public presentations to the communities affected as well as a forum to garner input from community members. Many ideas, supported by expertise in the Qualicum Beach, can have a beneficial impact on enrollment at KSS. These ideas have been given substantial weight by a Town of Qualicum Beach Youth Task Force, Kwalikum Secondary School: A Community Plan prepared by Dr. Doug Player for the Town of Qualicum Beach.

School Board trustee elections are slated for November 2011 and school closures will most likely dominate discussions and debate.

News on this issue can be found here