The Sea to Sky School District offered a conditional nod to Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee's (VANOC) expressing of interest in using Brackendale Elementary as a collection point and break site for Olympic Torch Relay personnel and vehicles during the Wednesday, Sept. 16 board meeting.
The trustees voted to allow the school's torch relay use subject to support from the superintendent and school principal, and suitable arrangements for security, parking and snow removal.
On Feb. 5, 2010, the school's space could see use as a collection point approximately between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. local time, and as a break site for about 45 minutes between 10:45 and 11:15 a.m., according to an Aug. 5 letter from VANOC.
Among the facilities required for the collection point and break site use are an indoor area big enough for up to 25 people for torchbearer orientation, parking for a torchbearer shuttle bus or for up to 20 relay convoy vehicles, and washrooms.
The trustees also voted to encourage VANOC to use another school if Brackendale Elementary isn't available.
Board grapples with budget
Association president Beth Miller told the trustees she feels the board has been "incredibly fiscally responsible and has done and excellent job budgeting."
But, Miller added, she knows from the meeting of the school district's finance committee she attended on Sept. 14, "the budget has been absolutely cut to the bone over the course of several years."
Miller asked the trustees whether they have a response to the provincial government's actions in the works, and if they would be interested in issuing a joint statement "expressing our displeasure with the way the cuts were decided and announced, and with the erosion over the last couple of years of the funding to public education."
The board agreed to consider and respond to Miller's question at a future meeting.
The province decided to withhold the Annual Facility Grant (AFG) for the 2009-'10 school year, funding that would have given the Sea to Sky School District $892,000 for larger maintenance projects such as roof repairs or carpet replacement.
As well, the Province is clawing back excess mid-year enrolment funding that was distributed last year, to the tune of $30,000. The school district is also facing the loss of $100,000 in revenue from the B.C. francophone education authority, which occupies 12 Sea to Sky district classrooms, following an announcement that the authority would not be required to shell out lease payments, though the district is still securing $200,000 to recover direct costs.
Coupled with the six per cent increase in Medical Services Plan premiums announced in the new budget, which employers primarily pay, and with an expected increase in the standard teacher cost to the tune of $93,000, the school district has a lot to handle.
Nancy Edwards, secretary-treasurer for the Sea to Sky School District, said she will bring a proposal to the finance committee that the amount that has already been spent on AFG projects - approximately $752,000 - can be paid for through AFG surpluses from previous years.
"We won't have to deal with that problem in operating dollars," she said on Tuesday (Sept. 22).
School board chair Dave Walden said officials are expecting to get an even clearer picture of the budget situation after Sept. 30, the date when the district's firm enrolment figures go to the province to establish how much per-student funding it will receive.
"We're not in dire straits right now, we're going to be able to pay our bills," Walden said, adding that the picture should be coming into focus around the board's meeting early in October.
