School name
After months of polling and deliberating with the community Powell River’s school district has announced the name of the school being built at Gordon Park is Westview Elementary School.
Staff, students and families of students at Grief Point Elementary School whittled a shortlist of three names announced in January down to the final name. The Board of Education approved the choice after hearing strong support for the name from community, staff and students. The board announced the name during the school board meeting Tuesday, February 15 at which time board chair Debby Lewis congratulated Grief Point on “all the work and the process they went through to pick that name.”
Three names were presented to the community in January: Robert Thirsk Elementary, Salish Sea Elementary and the winning Westview. The name Westview is meant to honour the area where the school will be built. It will also be a homage to the original Westview which operated from 1927 to 1950 before fire destroyed it.
A design for the new school has been picked and will be presented to the community most likely later this month, according the Steve Hopkins, School District 47 secretary treasurer. Construction is expected to start in April and be completed in time for the school year beginning September 2012.
BC’s budget
BC’s finance minister brought down a low-key budget this week, which holds the line for the Liberal government until the party chooses a new leader and premier on February 26.
Colin Hansen said stronger economic growth has cut the budget deficit by $335 million. The budget deficit for 2010-11 has fallen from $1.7 billion to $1.3 billion and is forecast to continue falling until 2013-14 when the province is expected to post its first surplus since 2008.
“The fiscal decisions we’ve made over the past 10 years weren’t always easy, but we kept BC on the path of prosperity,” said Hansen. “We’ve weathered the largest recession of our generation and numerous tax cuts put more money in the pockets of British Columbians and brought business investment back to BC.”
The 2011 budget contains a $600 million contingency, defined by the government as money that will “help manage unexpected pressures and fund priority initiatives.” It’s widely seen as a measure to give the next premier breathing room. The fiscal plan also includes a forecast for a $350 million allowance.
Debt in BC is expected to reach $53 billion this year, including $2.4 billion interest.
The health ministry will receive an additional $605 million for front-line service delivery and the social development ministry will see $65 million for income assistance to needy families.
Hansen is asking British Columbians what to do with the $335 million realized by the reduced deficit. He has launched a public consultation process to ask residents how the government should allocate the extra cash.
“Tell us your budget choices,” the government states on its website. “Using available dollars for next year’s budget, should government fund new programs and services, reduce debt or cut personal income taxes?”
