Service recognition
On behalf of the BC School Trustees Association, Jay Yule, superintendent of schools for School District 47, presented Powell River Board of Education trustees Mary James, Jeanette Scott and Debby Lewis with certificates honouring their long service and “in recognition of their dedicated service to public education and local governance.” The honour recognizes James for six years, Scott for 12 years and Lewis for 18 years of service as trustees.
Student fares
Debby Lewis, on behalf of the board, has sent a letter to BC Ferries asking that student fares not be increased during performance term three. “Needless to say, students will suffer hardships if allowances are not made for their travel to and from the community for educational reasons when ferry fares are increased,” wrote Lewis.
Cost analysis
Newly re-elected Powell River Teachers’ Federation president Cathy Fisher asked Yule whether any analysis has been done to determine potential cost changes for accommodating students with special needs once the old legislative language concerning levels of support is reinstated. Yule said they are working on rough estimates of what costs would look like but that a lack of specifics of what changes will be made makes this difficult. He hopes any changes that do occur are funded changes and wrote in a report that “reverting back to the old language would have a negligible impact on the budget.”
Dry grad funding
School District 47 received $4,390 from BC Liquor Stores to go toward the dry grad event for graduating students from Brooks Secondary School. BC Liquor Stores will donate just over $500,000 provincially for dry grad events.
Property loss insurance
Changes over insurance for property loss will see school districts across the province buying into a collective pool of $3 million, rather than having coverage premiums provided by the ministry of education. Steve Hopkins, secretary-treasurer for the board, said the district will pay just under $15,000 into the pool starting next year. Hopkins said the timing of this change is unfortunate given that they are in the latter stages of the budget, but that the amount is manageable.
Bottled water ban
At a recent Sustainable Schools Committee meeting, Yule announced that the board, in response to a student-led campaign by Brooks’ student Alyssa Stapleton and the Students for Environmental Awareness club, will ban bottled water from vending machines in Powell River schools. A timeline for the removal of bottled water has yet to be determined.
