At tonight’s school board meeting Trustees will decide whether or not to re-open Westsyde Elementary.

After months of consultation in person and online with parents and teachers airing their concerns and questions the President of the Kamloops Thompson Teachers Association Amanda Jensen-Labar says she is expecting the board to vote yes.

“I would be very surprised if there was a decision not to re-open Westyde Elementary. The next question I would be asking is well what is plan B then? We would be very happy if Westsyde Elementary re-opens we certainly do not want to see any more portables in the school district if we can avoid it.”

Jensen-Labar says once the board decides to re-open the school the union’s focus will be on classroom conditions and any teacher movement.

“Any time there is a school closure or re-opening the association is involved. We have no reason to believe that there will be huge waves with the re-opening of Westsyde Elementary. We certainly will be consulted once that decision is made and we will be doing everything that we can to help the district make that transition as seamless as possible.”

Concerns gathered about re-opening Westsyde range from boundary changes, traffic, splitting up students, and the moving of teachers.

Jensen-Labar says once the Westsyde Elementary question is answered the board must then tackle whether or not to re-open Ralp Bell Elementary.