Capital funding and calendar approvals among SD52 meeting notes

SD52 held their monthly Board meeting last week and from that session a number of notes have been released from School District officials.

Planning for the 2017-18 Spring Break is now complete, after the Prince Rupert District Teachers' Union approved the changes required to the collective agreement that will enable for a two week Spring Break next year.

That marked the second year in a row that the Board has approved the two week Spring Break model and finalizes the calendar preparations for the year ahead.

In Capital Funding the School District approved $550,000 in funding for three projects to date, they include:

Roof Repairs for Conrad Street Elementary School
DDC upgrades and floor repairs at Lax Keen Elementary School

The School District also notes that the Ministry is considering urgent work required for Prince Rupert Middle School, the work required will ensure that the building can continue to operate until it is replaced. 

The anticipated work will include repairs to the roof, boilers and the school's electrical system.

SD52 took note of some of the urgent work required at PRMS to allow the
facility to remain in use until a replacement school is approved by the Ministry of Education

The School District also outlined the final details to their annual 2017-18 Budget noting that they have a budget surplus of 2 per cent, to be used as a reserve to address future operational issues.

As well an additional 2.6% is being held as a contingency fund for staffing if enrolment in the District increases by the time school resumes in September 2017.

The total expenses in the approved budget will come to $25,323,000, by approving the budget the Board agreed to both ongoing and one-time spending increases.

The District also has created a special purpose fund, to be known as the Classroom Enhancement Fund, which features $1,349,168 of Provincial funding to address the restoration of the class size and composition language from the teacher collective agreement.

From that $188,000 of the funds will be allocated to overhead coasts and will be used to restore a day shift custodian position and provide additional release time for principals.

As well, School Board Chair Tina Last made note of one time funding to be directed towards the implementation of the new curriculum and to support recruitment of more teachers.

“The Board has approved one-time funding in the budget to support schools in the implementation of the new curriculum and to support the recruitment of more teachers,” ...“On behalf of the Board I would like to thank our partner groups who provided valuable input in the budget process.”

Grant Funding was also a key element of the announcements from the April 11th session, among those notices were:

Student Learning Grant -- SD 52 will receive an estimated $99,000 from the Ministry of Education for the Student Learning Grant, a one time grant designed to support students in the new curriculum and to save parents money. As part of the grant funding, basic school supplies will be purchased for elementary and middle school students which will help reduce the cost for parents.

The remaining money from the fund will be used to support hands on learning in elementary, middle and secondary schools in the District.

As we outlined on the blog earlier this month, the School District has also received funding for Industrial Training supplies for both Charles Hays and Prince Rupert Middle School.

At the April 11th Session, Board Chair Last offered thanks for the work involved in securing that funding.

“The school district is very appreciative of the work by the district career coordinator, Sebastien Paquet and the Director of Operations, Dave Garcia, to gather the information required and ensure this grant application was submitted,”  ... “Our students will benefit from these new tools for many years.”

Youth Trades Grant -- The Industry Training Authority has approved a series of grants to upgrade tools in the shops at Charles Hays Secondary and Prince Rupert Middle School.

2017 -- $15,920
2018 -- $32,760
1019 -- $43,400

The final note on the Board meeting of last week reviewed the progress of a restoration project taking place at Charles Hays Secondary.

A look at the Before picture for the
1940's Police Car restoration project
taking place at CHSS
(photo from Prince Rupert Crimestoppers/
Lonnie Wishart photography)

Vice-Principal Carla Street and students Bren Stevenson and Sehjot Sahdra from CHSS provided a look at the work in progress on the restoration of a 1940's police car currently underway through the auto shop class.

The project is being documented by students in the media arts class who provided a sample of the chronicle of the car restoration to this point for the Board members .

Something which the SD52 officials greeted with a great deal of enthusiasm.

“It is exciting to see the collaboration between the shop class and the media arts class,” ... “The Board is looking forward to the day when this car will appear in the Seafest parade.”
-- SD52 Board Chair Tina Last

A glimpse at what the car looked like heading into the shop in February can be found from the Prince Rupert Crimestoppers Facebook page

A full overview of the April 11th School District session can be found here.

More items of note from School District 52 can be found on our archive page here.

ReDesign Rupert to host session on Community Development and the Arts Tomorrow evening

The Community Development Institute at UNBC has an interesting evening planned for Prince Rupert's Arts community tomorrow evening, as the the CDI and Redesign Rupert host another of their popular Community Speaker events, this one putting the focus on how Community Development and the Arts share common goals.

The featured speaker on the evening is Genevieve Bucher, the President of BC Artscape, a non profit organization that develops and manages unique cultural spaces.

She will outline how BC Artscape serves both the needs of artists and cultural organizations as well as the larger community.

Ms. Bucher will be speaking to the value of the Arts as part of community development and will be providing some examples as to how BC Artscape has achieved those goals across the province.

You can review some of those projects and learn more about the program from the BC Artspace website here.

The Moderator for the evening is Marleen Morris, the Co-Director of the Community Development Institute at UNBC.

Laurie Gray, President of the Prince Rupert Community Arts Council will also be part of the evening's discussion, serving as the community respondent for the session.

Thursday's Speaker Series event takes place at UNBC's space at the Prince Rupert campus of Northwest Community College, with the Multipurpose room at the college the venue for the night from 7 to 8:30 PM.

Admission to the event is Free and refreshments will be served.

To find out more about the Speaker Series sessions contact Kaitlin Harrison at 250-960-5952 or by email at Kaitlin.Harrison@unbc.ca

More notes related to the work of Redesign Rupert see our archive page here.

Final Design for McKay Street Park Project to be revealed at Community Meeting April 25

The next phase for development of a potential park for the abandoned ball field
at Kootenay and McKay will be revealed later this month

The much anticipated reveal of the what the McKay Street Park Project may look like will take place later this month, with the Grand Design unveiling to take place in the Main Atrium at Northwest Community College on Tuesday, April 25th from 7 to 9 PM.

The project is being planned by Transition Prince Rupert and the McKay Street Park Steering Committee and has benefited from the assistance of Portland, Oregon's City Repair Project.

That organization made use of the feedback from Prince Rupert of the fall to develop what will be the blue print for the project moving forward.

A number of local businesses have also participated in the first phase of the project design process, including the local organization Redesign Rupert.

Mayor Brain highlighted the upcoming public event through his Facebook page, noting that the Design Unveiling is only the first phase of the project, following that will be a community fundraising process, the success of which will determine how quickly the project may get off the ground. With Mr. Brain noting that he is hopeful of a piece by piece approach for the Park to take place over the next year or two.

The proposed re-purposing of the old Kootenay Ball Field into what would be a west side urban oasis has not made for much in the way of conversation at Prince Rupert City Council sessions, with little background provided as to how the City plans to turn over a significant amount of land to a community organization and what that might mean for ongoing maintenance and other issues.

Not known to this point is what role, outside of turning over the land to the group, that the City may have to play in the new public space and if there will be any additional costs for the city to prepare the site for the ambitious plans.

More on the timeline for development and what those fundraising plans might be moving forward will be outlined as part of the Grand Design reveal at the April 25th meeting at NWCC.

Updates on the April 25th reveal can be found on the Transition Prince Rupert Facebook page.

Some of the background to the proposed redevelopment of the field can be reviewed below:


December 2016 -- McKay Street Park plans to move forward in January
October 2016 -- Transition Prince Rupert hosting Annual General Meeting tonight
September 2016 -- Public comment period now open for McKay Street Park concept proposals
September 2016 -- McKay Street Park concepts to be revealed at mid month Info session
June 2016 -- City Council session takes note that the McKay Street Park bid came up short in BCAA competition
May 2016 -- McKay Street Park initiative submitted to BCAA's Play at Home competition
January 2016 -- Mayor hails success of Placemaking conference and points to a new 2030 Sustainable City vision
December 2015 -- Transition Prince Rupert to host grass roots involvement conference in January
December 2015 -- Transition Prince Rupert hosting General Membership meeting tonight
April 2015 -- Transition Prince Rupert opens the discussion on the McKay Street Open Space

More notes on City Council Discussions can be found on our Council Archive page.

NWCC to offer a test drive of the Terrace campus for graduating Seniors

An opportunity to get a quick look at what college life may be like will be available for SD52 grads next month as Northwest Community College hosts what they are calling a Test Drive @ NWCC from May 6 to 7th.

The two day preview of the Terrace campus will offer an overnight stay in the dorms, some hands on experience in the classrooms of the campus and a range of fun activities to showcase the college through the weekend.

Meals will be included as part of the the two days of exploring the expansive campus atop the Bench in Terrace.

The project is designed to give students across the Northwest a sample of what NWCC has to offer for those that are looking to continue their education after high school.

To find out more about the program contact Danielle Richey at the Terrace campus of NWCC at 250-638-5427.

A look at the May weekend plans can be found on the NWCC website and Facebook page

For more items related to post secondary education in the Northwest see our NWCC archive page here.

Misty Fjords Air to offer Prince Rupert - Ketchikan air service May through September

The Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce will be the host for the official roll out of a new air service today, with Misty Fjords Air set to outline some background on a new air connection between Prince Rupert and Ketchikan Alaska.

A few details of the new service have just been added to the Misty Fjord website, which notes that flights will be available on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from May 1st to September 30th.

The Ketchikan based airline is highlighting the new era of trade, leisure and economic opportunities that their service will offer both communities. As well as the additional access that it will offer for more shopping, cultural and sporting events that could come to access to international airports from the two starting points.

The service would link Prince Rupert's Seal Cove airbase in the City's east end with downtown Ketchikan as part of a forty five minute flight.

No price structure has been outlined as of yet and the times for departures and arrivals are not listed to this point for the service which will see the first flight departures and arrivals taking place on Monday, May 1st.

Misty Fjords is best known for offering flight seeing trips in the Ketchikan area, a popular option for the many cruise ship passengers that call on the Southeast Alaska city during the busy summer Alaska cruise season.

You can learn more about their service and the plans to connect the two communities here.

Mayor Lee Brain made note of the new service on his Facebook page calling attention to what he has described as a sacred connection to the Alaska city.

Mr. Brain also observed that the Prince Rupert Economic Development Office had been working hard on the project, though no details as to what level of involvement that the local Economic Development Office may have with the new three month service.

The introduction of international service between the two communities will also have the need for Customs services at both ends of the journey, the details of how that may work perhaps to be explained at today's information session for the Chamber of Commerce audience.

Mayor Brain will be making the introductions to the Chamber gathering today, with the Mayor Lew Williams of Ketchikan and Misty Fjord officials in the city to provide more notes on the pending launch.

Today's Chamber function, which is Sold Out, takes place from 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM

It's not the first time that additional connections between Prince Rupert and Ketchikan have been considered, an airline service was once in place in the late 1990's, but was suspended as that decade came to an end.

In September of 2015, Prince Rupert's West Coast Launch had outlined the prospect of hosting a marine service between the two communities, that service would have also operated during the summer season, however to this point those plans have not moved much beyond the investigative phase.

The two communities currently are serviced by Alaska Marine Highway Service with a ferry connection between Prince Rupert and Ketchikan departing from the Fairview Terminal.

You can find more background on connections with Ketchikan from our Transportation archives here.

Community Resource Directory goes live, offering archive of contacts for range of local programs and services

Earlier this month we outlined a new project launched through the Community Development Institutes Redesign Rupert office that would see the creation of a Community Services Directory for Prince Rupert, providing key information on services and organizations in the region.

That project has now been launched, with the City website the host location for those looking to learn more about some of the opportunities available in Prince Rupert.

Included in the easy to navigate web page is a range of information related to each organization that has participated, offering key details and contact names and numbers to learn more about whatever may capture your interest.

Put together through the work of Willa Thorpe and her team at the City's Recreation Department, the new Community Resource Directory showcases the diverse list of options available in the city.

The Directory provides a useful tool for residents and newcomers to the community to see just what is available in the community and how to contact or participate in events, as well as offers up a chance to see where you may wish to volunteer your services.

Should you belong to a local organization that wishes to be included in the directory you can contact the Directory through email at resource@princerupert.ca

You can begin to explore all that Prince Rupert has to offer with one click here.

For more items related Community events in the region see our archive page here.

NWCC Prince Rupert to host Traditional Medicine Walk on Wednesday

Residents of the North coast can learn more about how First Nations used local plants, roots and barks to create their own medicine in the past, as the Northwest Community College Elders in Residence program takes you on a Traditional Medicine Walk on Wednesday.

The three hour journey into the ways of traditional medicine gathering will depart from the parking lot of the NWCC Prince Rupert campus at 9 AM with participants walking through the city to explore a number of aspects of Tsimshian Culture, with a particular focus on how the natural elements available locally were used.

The Traditional Medicine Walk takes place from 9 AM to Noon on Wednesday, April 19th.

For more information on tomorrow's journey contact Kaarlene Lindsay at NWCC at 250-624-6054 extension 5722

More items related to Northwest Community College can be found on our archive page here.