Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Transportation funding, crosswalk ambitions and more discussed at SD 52 session


Members of the School District 52 board held their October meeting last Tuesday, and the Board office has released some of the talking points related to their themes on the night through the SD52 website.

At their October 11th session, School trustees heard some background related to a video presentation that has been submitted to the CTV Television as part of that networks "A Day in the Life" project.

The Prince Rupert submission comes from Vice Principal Peter Scott at École Roosevelt Park Community School, it runs 11 minutes in length and provides a look at some of the activities at the school and comes with contributions in three languages, English, French and Sm’algyax.

It's  hoped that the SD52 submission will be selected as part of final cut for the TV network's plans for the celebration of Canada's 150th Anniversary.

More on that project can be found here.

Transportation funding was also a topic on the evening, with the Board noting that the Ministry of Education had approved the transportation plan submitted by the Board over the summer.

Some notes on that September proposal and the Ministry approval can be reviewed below:

British Columbia government approves transportation funding for Prince Rupert
Prince Rupert families to see cost reduction on School Transportation passes
Metlakatla, Port Edward and School District resolve transportation issues for school year

As part of their overview on the transportation issue, the Board acknowledged that they had received a number of letters from local Parent Action Committees, as well as the District PAC and a parent, all expressing concerns about the transportation decisions made by the School District in September.

As a follow up to those inquiries, the School District plans to write a letter to the DPAC and ask them to consider a joint meeting.

Transportation by foot was also a concern for trustees at Tuesday's session, as they approved a motion to write letters to the City of Prince Rupert and the Ministry of Transportation to seek the installation of a controlled crosswalk at the corner of Park Avenue and 11th Street.

The School District notes that the addition of the crosswalk would make the trip to school shorter and safer for students who live in Section Two of the city.

SD52 will be approaching both the City of Prince Rupert and the Ministry
of Transportation to seek the placement of a controlled crosswalk
at Park Avenue and 11th Street.


The Board also announced the appointment of Carlyle, Shepherd and Company as the district's auditors for the year ending June 30, 2017. This will be the third year of an expected five year term.

Policy and Committee Work made up the remainder of the notes from last week's session, with the School District noting that four draft policies had been approved and sent out for further comments, among those were policies on:

Anaphylaxis Policy, District Code of Conduct Policy, Energy Conservation and Environmental Stewardship and Buildings and Grounds Projects Policy.

One policy was approved to replace an existing policy related to the Student Support Policy, while three policies were deleted by the Board of Education, including Diversity in Schools Policy, Approach to Governance Policy and Relationships policy.

Not listed among the talking points from last week was any indication if the topic of the still vacant seat on the School Board was addressed.  As they head towards November, School District 52 is about to hit the one year mark since former Councillor Judy Carlick-Pearson stepped down from office.

While the School District had been fairly consistent at providing updates on their plans to fill the vacancy for much of last year, there has been no indication, or comment from Board officials on the issue since last spring.

Last May, prior to the end of the last school year, the School District noted that the City of Prince Rupert was to review the trustee by-election issue, since then both sides have not released any further information as to what is next when it comes to the bringing the Board of Education back up to its full contingent.

A review of their information release related to last Tuesday's session can be found here, while more background on education on the North Coast can reviewed from our Education archive page.





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