Reading, Writing, but no renovating!

The much needed seismic upgrades of two local elementary schools are at risk due to a rather hard nosed policy in place at the Ministry of Education in Victoria.

It was hoped that upgrades could be made to both Conrad Elementary and Kanata elementary in order to meet earthquake standards, but they have been apparently sidetracked. The Ministry of Education policy is one of not making costly upgrades on schools that are less than 70 percent full.

Which apparently are where the two local schools fall into the cracks. The declining population of the city over the last few years has resulted in a definite reduction in students attending local schools. Which leaves the existing schools to continue to age without any seismic renovations scheduled.

As well a 2.7 million upgrade was approved for PRSS, but construction costs have raised a question or two as to whether that is enough for the project to go ahead at the moment.

Local trustees last year criticized the province for overlooking the two elementary schools most in need. But obviously not to much avail as the policy is still in place across the province. It seems like a rather large tempting of fate to continue on along without any indication of what is ahead for the schools in question.

With an anticipated rebounding in the local economy and with it an increase in population it might be best sold to the Ministry as an investment for future years. The cost of renovations certainly isn’t going to go down, so perhaps the government should bite the bullet and upgrade the schools now for when they once again reach the magic 70% level or more!

It might be something that Gary Coons the local MLA could bring up at the Legislature, except of course there is no fall session, as the Provincial Government didn’t think there was much of interest to debate in the province at the moment. Truly an interesting view for the government, especially when you consider the number of things that many British Columbians are worried about such as Health Care, an Olympic Budget that is skyrocketing and one or two rickety schools that could use a little help.

Surely if the Provincial government can bail out the Olympic show at the stroke of a pen, they could find a few dollars for the youngsters of the province who merely want to go to school in a sound structure.

The Minister of Finance is making an appearance in Prince Rupert on Thursday, perhaps a side trip to Kanata or Conrad would be a beneficial thing for a member of the Government that can’t find anything to talk about in Victoria. Ms. Taylor had just hope that we don’t have a temblor should she wish to do a walkabout…

The Daily News had a full report on the issue in its Monday edition.

QUAKE-RISK SCHOOLS ON SHAKY GROUND
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Monday, October 2, 2006
Pages One and Three

The school district has gone from not getting the schools fixed that it wanted fixed, to possibly not getting any schools fixed at all.

Last year, trustees criticized the province for overlooking two schools in most need of seismic improvement- Conrad Street and Kanata- due to a provincial policy that frowns on doing costly earthquake upgrades to schools that are less than 70 per cent full. Instead, a $2.7 million upgrade for the third school on that list – Prince Rupert Secondary School – was approved. Now, rising construction costs have some questioning whether there are adequate funds to go ahead and fix the school in 2007/08 as originally planned.

“At this point in time, I would have to say probably not,” said Dan Rodin, School District 52 secretary-treasurer. “Studies have been ongoing and we’re still assessing the feasibility of it.”

In terms of that feasibility, which is being conducted with the first $50,000 of the provincial grant, the district needs to first determine if PRSS is going to remain a school, something Rodin said to which they can safely say ‘yes’. The second phase is to figure out what needs to be repaired from a seismic strand point and, presumably, what it will cost.

“The whole seismic program is being provided by the Ministry of Education, it’s not school district money, it’s basically capital money,” he said. “The Ministry of Education, I guess, has got a fair number of buildings out there that all need some work.

“I guess what they’re saying is they’re trying to balance the resources with the needs.”

In 2004, a survey by the Ministry of Education found more than 700 schools in B. C. required some seismic upgrading. Last year, the government committed $254 for improvements in 80 schools and the province has $1.5 billion total earthquake improvement plan in the works.

However, spiraling construction costs are believed to mean the cost of repairs has doubled. Despite that, the B. C. Government has simply said they’re going to look at the projects.

“We find that very difficult to understand, how you can put kids and staff at risk,” said Marty Bowles, Prince Rupert District Teacher’s Union (PRDTU) president. “We of course believe that all the schools should be upgraded as required and we’re disappointed that it hasn’t been done, - we always believe that students and staff should be as safe as possible.

“We already know the upgrades need to be done at several schools, and now it looks like they won’t be done at one.”