Extension to Hartley Bay Education Contract and enrolment numbers highlight School District 52's November Report

SD 52 will continue to provide education
services for the community of Hartley Bay
with a new five year contract now in place.
(photo from NW BC archives)

School District 52 will be providing education services for the community of Hartley Bay for another five years, with a formal signing of the agreement to take place in February of 2017.

That announcement made for one of the main items of note from the most recent School District 52 Board meeting of November 8th, with SD52 providing a short synopsis of their work from last weeks session.

The Hartley Bay agreement continues the long standing relationship between SD52 and the Gitga'at First Nation community and secures educational instruction for Gitga'at students until 2022.

The School District also delivered the final verdict on student enrolment for 2016-17, with 1,992 students the final number from the start of school of this fall, that marks a decrease of 90 students from the previous year.  

The District had set a budget for 2,026 students, with funding protection included in the funding formula, SD52 notes in their information release that there will be no impact on the district's projected funding from the Ministry of Education.

When it comes to the classroom count, the Superintendent of Education advised the School Board
that the average class size in the District is lower than the provincial average, advising that there are no classes over 30 other than those which have permission for larger numbers such as band class.

The Board also heard of the success of a recently completed project as part of the Aboriginal Entrepreneurship course that is in place at Charles Hays Secondary.

A group of students and teachers involved with the EAGLE program at CHSS outlined how the program works and provided examples of the projects they have designed to enhance attendance for events held at the Lester Centre.

The EAGLE program at Charles Hays can lead students into the larger ACE Program that is offered by TRICORP in partnership with the University of Victoria.

More on that ACE program can be found in the video below and from this link to the TRICORP website.


As part of  the November 8th meeting, Board Chair Tina Last outlined the Board's appreciation for the program and the partners involved with it.

“The Board of Education was thrilled to see the initiative and original concepts demonstrated by our students,  ... We are thankful to Tricorp, the University of Victoria, and the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative for their support of our Aboriginal Entrepreneurship program.”

The School District Board also approved a number of policy initiatives on the evening, more on the overview of last week's meeting can be reviewed here.

The Board next meets on December 13th.

One item not addressed in the most recent information statement, nor updated to this point on the SD52 website is the status of the still vacant seat on the SD52 Board.

Three months into the 2016-17 school year, there is still not indication when, or if, the School District plans to hold a by-election to replace the vacancy created by the departure of Trustee Judy Carlick-Pearson over a year ago.

You can review that ongoing situation from our blog item of September.

For more items related to developments in education across the Northwest see our archive page here.