Emotional trustees seal the fate of east side schools

"The time has come that we need to decide"--School Trustee Louisa Sanchez, at Tuesday night's School board meeting

And decide they did, the Daily News provides a comprehensive look at the events of Tuesday nights school district 52 meeting, which gave the final go ahead to close Seal Cove and Kanata schools at the end of August this year.

Trustees in support of the motion to close the schools (except for councillor Wiens who was against the closures) each took their turn explaining why they felt that those two schools should be the ones selected and then conducted their vote to seal the fate of the two east side schools.

Trustee Brian Johnson abstained from voting, as he felt that he had missed too many recent meetings and may have missed out on important information regarding the closures that could have influenced his voting.

That's a sentiment that might raise an eyebrow of one or two parents across the city, especially on the east side. Where opinion might hold, that in such an important vote as a school closure, it might be incumbent on the trustees to investigate on their own any outstanding issues that could sway their vote. If ever you were to cast a vote at a school board meeting, you would think that it would be when the fate of a school is at stake.

Trustee Wiens made his case for keeping the schools open, advocating the satus quo until the district could present its case to the province for a new school, at which time the Seal Cove and Kanata properties could be sold. As the evening went along however, he didn't seem to provide enough evidence to turn the tide on his own.

In the end, he was the lone dissenting vote on the closures, as the board went ahead with the recommendations, making this the last year for the east side students in their familiar surroundings.

The full review of the emotionally draining three hour meeting, was presented in Wednesday's paper as the front page story.

KANATA, SEAL COVE SCHOOLS CLOSE AS DISTRICT REORGANIZES

Trustees make hard decision in bid to save dollars
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Pages one and two

As of Aug. 31, 2008, Kanata and Seal Cove elementary schools will officially be closed, following a decision by trustees from School District 52 at last night's board meeting.

With all seven trustees in attendance for the first time in months, the motions to pass and adopt School Closure Bylaws No. 2-2007 and No. 3-2007 were carried by a vote of five to one. The only trustee to vote against the motions to close Kanata and Seal Cove was Russell Wiens. Only six of seven trustees voted in the both cases because trustee Brian Johnson abstained from voting, admitting he had missed important recent meetings that may have provided details necessary to influence his decision.

The motion to give Westview Elementary's School Closure Bylaw a first and second reading was brought forth by Tina Last, after passing her role as chair to Janet Mirau, but was not seconded and therefore defeated.

Before the motion to give Port Edward's bylaw a first or second reading could be put forward, another motion to engage the District of Port Edward in partnering to resolve cost issues was tabled by Mirau, and unanimously carried by the board.

The nearly three-hour meeting was an emotional one for trustees, who all went into detail describing their decision-making processes, and aside from Wiens, explained why they felt closing Kanata and Seal Cove schools was necessary.

In both cases, Trustee Bart Kuntz brought forth the motions to pass and adopt the school closure bylaws, and both times he was seconded by Barry McDonald. Kuntz stated that it should not matter what school students attended in the district, as the level of professionalism, support and education that students receive is exceptional at all of Prince Rupert's schools.

He also said he felt that as a trustee, he would not be doing his job by continuing to allow educational funding to be spent on repairs to buildings.

"I really do believe that my child can go anywhere in this district and thrive," said Kuntz. "When people talk to me about individual schools I get upset, because I really believe that there are staff and teachers at every school that will give them the same care or better."

People defend their schools, and that's a beautiful thing, but the facts are, wherever students go in the district, there are excellent people there, and there will be more pros than cons if the motion goes forward."

Barry also said that he would rather see money spent on books and programs, and that schools are only as good as the parents, teachers and community make them.

"The good part about all this is that all of sudden we have the community, and people at Westview, Seal Cove and Kanata rallying around [their schools], but why haven't people been doing this before?" he asked. "All of a sudden it comes to this and everybody steps up and starts to realize what the school is doing for the community."

In voting against closures, Wiens said that although the District Visioning Committee and administrative recommendations were compelling, he didn't feel that an immediate decision to close schools was the best option.

"I believe there is a better way to achieve the goals of our district, which is the renewal of our buildings and furthering our support of student learning," he said. "I believe that we need to present a case to the Ministry of Education where we as a school district and as a board, take a full advocacy route and put forward a notion that if we could have a school built, we would then sell the properties of Seal Cove and Kanata and take down the building on Conrad."

Last admitted there were strong cases for both sides and that she had kept an open mind over the course of the last 12 months, but said that waiting any longer to take action was not helping the 2,500 local students.

"Are we saying that we are currently delivering the best education that our students deserve? I don't believe that's the case," said Last. "We are pouring education dollars of the students of today and tomorrow into tired, aging, costly-to-maintain buildings. I want to see programs enhanced, I want to see education improve. I don't want to put more paint on buildings, that's not my goal and that's not what I signed on for."

Mirau said that while no trustees liked the situation they were faced with, the board was bound by ministry policy to operate within the scope of what they're given to work with.

"I look at our capital and operating funding, and we should be saving 50 to 80 per cent of what we're given for buildings, but we don't save anything," said Mirau. "We spent 171 per cent of that budget, which means we spent all that money we were given and a whole bunch more with money that was set aside for educating children and programming. We had to take from that in order to duct tape our buildings together, and to keep them functional.

"I don't want to close schools, but we as a community have an opportunity to join together for the greater good, and all join together to create solutions to problems that are so incredibly challenging."

Louisa Sanchez noted that although she hadn't planned on saying anything at all, she wanted to see full-time librarians in schools, special education needs met, and all the extra programming back into classrooms.

"It is very hard for me tonight sitting here listening to everything, but for me the time has come," said Sanchez.

"The time has come that we need to decide."

Moves afoot to save Port Edward School from closure

The surprise announcement a few weeks ago that Port Edward Elementary school might be on the closure list of School District 52 caught more than a few folks by surprise, not the least the folks living in Port Edward.

It was announcement that was made from Prince Rupert, and when school district staff and trustees heard from Port Edwards council and residents the words weren’t ones of support for the cost saving measure.

However, all may not be lost for parents, students, teachers and residents of Port Ed, as senior staff at School District 52 is exploring every option to try and find a role for the school in the School Districts future.

With the School District set to hold its next school board meeting tonight at 7 pm at Charles Hays Secondary School, it’s a safe bet that there will be some traffic on Highway 16 westbound this evening.

The folks from Port Edward will be finding that they share the outrage file with parents from Westview, who also have expressed their concerns with plans to close their school and move the French Immersion program to Roosevelt.

The Monday Daily News had some background on the controversial Port Edward possibilities and what the future may hold for the school.

Stakeholders work to save Port Edward elementary
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Monday, March 10, 2008
Pages one and three

It came as a shock to many residents of Port Edward when their school was recommended for closure last month, but senior School District 52 staff are saying that every option will be examined in order to provide a future role for Port Edward Elementary.

Although the District Visioning Committee’s report recommended the district “examine the continued viability” of the school, the recommendations presented to school board trustees suggested a deadline of 2010 for establishment of a partnership to reduce the district’s maintenance and capital costs.

Whether that arrangement was a lease-back agreement or finding another way to utilize space in the building, Superintendent of Schools Eric Mercer says closing Port Ed is a last resort.

“The recommendations are to look at any and all possibilities to make it work for the community of Port Edward,” he said. “We recognize this school is the heart of that community and we want to find ways to make it work and enhance its role.”

District staff and trustees heard from several concerned and upset Port Edward residents at the Town Hall meeting on Feb 28, including Mayor Dave Macdonald who was adamant that Port Ed could not afford to purchase the building from School District 52, and who said his council was disappointed it had not been consulted.

Since that meeting, Macdonald says he feels a bit better about the situation, knowing that the District of Port Edward is going to be included in any future discussions.

“We should discuss this and see what we can do to work together and keep Port Edward School open,” said MacDonald. “We want to work together and make sure we have this school because I really feel Port Edward without a school would discourage any young families from moving to this area. They‘re not going to come here without a school if they’ve got children.”

MacDonald said he is confident a meeting between Port Edward and School District 52 will happen in the near future, and in the meantime he will be in attendance at tomorrow night’s school board meeting to hear what trustees have to say on the issues.

The team at School District 52 is reminding the public that neither the DVC or administrative recommendations have yet been considered by the school board. They will not have a chance to discuss any of what they’ve read or heard in the past three weeks until tomorrow night’s regular board meeting. In addition to the other school closure recommendations and future plans for the district, the recommendation to examine options for Port Edward and the recommendation to close Westview Elementary in June 2009 will be included in the board’s agenda.

Tuesday night’s meeting will be held in the Charles Hays multi-purpose room at 7 pm.

Reviewing the "unavoidable consequences of consolidation"

Thursday night’s public meeting of school District 52 at Charles Hays was a lively affair, with the senior staff of the school district on the hot seat and having to explain a number of recent proposals for school closures in the city.

Earlier this year it was announced that Seal Cove and Kanata schools were the most likely candidates for closure, that potential list was expanded in the recent weeks to include Westview and potentially Port Edward school as well.

With over 100 written and oral questions on the night, school officials were provided with more than enough feedback to get a sense of the public’s concern over their plans.

Of particular interest and provided for more than a fair bit of anxiety among parents seems to be what has been called Scenario 10, a controversial plan that would see the Westview school close and the French Immersion program currently in place there transferred to Roosevelt School.

Should that scenario come to pass, the French Immersion program would take up five of the schools 18 classrooms, if the current enrollment in the program held. A possibility that may not be that strong, if rumours of a widespread withdrawal by parents of the program takes place.
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One question submitted on Thursday, pondered that possibility of student transfers out of the program and asked for the absolute final number required before the entire program had to be cancelled. The answer provided, was that the program would be terminated if there were less than 10 students enrolled, or if three grade splits became necessary to keep the program operating.

Parents also inquired as to the School District’s intentions as far as transportation to and from school went, with discussion about a proposed bus service and what were and were not the School District’s responsibilities in providing transportation to the schools.

One other issue of interest to parents was the new catchment boundaries that were designed and revealed for the first time, dividing the city up into four areas, a change that will have some parents checking their borders to see where their children will heading to school for come September.

The School District next meets on March 11, when trustees will hold a third reading on the fate of Seal Cove and Kanata schools, at that meeting the District members will also have the opportunity to put their research of the people from last Thursday night to work, as they formally respond to the District Visioning Committee and school staff recommendations.

The Daily News featured a full report on the night’s activities with a front page story in Monday’s paper.

SCHOOL DISTRICT STAFF EXPLAIN REASONING BEHIND CLOSURES
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Monday, March 03, 2008

Senior staff from School District 52 had a lot of explaining to do at Thursday evening's 'town hall' meeting where members of the public posed more than 100 written and oral questions to the three administrators regarding details of the proposed 'Scenario 10' school closures.

A large portion of questions centered around the French Immersion program currently at Westview, and what it would look like if relocated to Roosevelt. The district staff said they would make their best effort to ensure as much of Westview's French library resources were relocated. They also said staffing formulas would only change to represent the 25 per cent of students at Roosevelt who would be in the FI program, which would use five of 18 classrooms based on current enrollment numbers.

One written submission brought up a rumour that many parents of FI students would pull their students out of the program if it moved to Roosevelt, and senior staff were asked what the threshold was before the program would be terminated. Staff responded that the FI program would be terminated if class sizes fell below 10 students or if three-grade splits became necessary.

The district also recognized that gymnasium and library access at Pineridge, Roosevelt, Lax Kxeen and Conrad would suffer with the expected influx of students that would follow if Westview, Seal Cove and Kanata were closed, but said that was one of the unavoidable consequences of consolidation.

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Concerns that schools including Roosevelt and Conrad would lose current programs as a result of more students being enrolled were dispelled by the senior staff, claiming all programs would continue, with the possibility that some may be strengthened and that there could be an introduction of specialty programs.

The district's plan to accommodate some students with a bus service also came up, and some parents asked if students who miss the morning bus or with extra-curricular activities after school would be transported.

Superintendent Mercer quickly dismissed the notion that the district had such an extended responsibility to transportation, but did say that the district would partner with the city to address sidewalk and crosswalk safety. When the issue of Westview Child Care was risen, district staff also clarified they did not have a responsibility to accommodate the business, but that busses may be able stop at or near the childcare centre.

A preliminary draft of new catchment areas was also handed out to the public at the town hall meeting, which the district stressed was in no way finalized and are open to discussion.

The draft plan divides the city of Prince Rupert neatly into four catchment blocks, each spanning from the waterfront to the Eastern edge of city limits. The Pineridge catchment would include everyone South of McKay Street and the Second Avenue Bridge. Roosevelt catchment would include all students between McKay Street and McBride Street, and Lax Kxeen catchment would be the area north of McBride Street to Conrad Street. The Conrad/Lax Kxeen catchment boundary would then cut down Seventh Avenue to Donald Street, up Sixth Avenue East to Pigott Place, dividing Pigott Avenue and Overlook Street at the 1400 block. Everything North of this line, including Victoria Avenue and Crestview Drive would all fall into the Conrad catchment.

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School District 52 trustees will meet for their regular board meeting on Tues., March 11, where Seal Cove and Kanata schools will be given a third reading and trustees will have a chance to formally respond to the District Visioning Committee and district senior staff's recommendations.

School closure concerns reverberate around the region

The controversial recommendations and observations of the School District’s Visioning Committee have been heard loud and clear in Port Edward and the reaction to the prospect of closing the Port Edward Elementary School has left that community in shock and ready to fight.

Leading up to Thursday night’s public school board meeting Port Ed officials were making plans to attend the public session to express their reservations about any plan that includes closure of the school in Port Edward.

That prospect seemed to come out of the blue in the last few weeks as the possible Port Ed closure was added to a growing list in Prince Rupert that now includes, Westview, Seal Cove and Kanata schools.

The Port Edward closure if it were to take place, would see students from that community do much the same as students from Dodge Cove and Metlakatla do, travel daily back and forth to Prince Rupert for their education. However, the volume of students travelling from Port Edward would be higher in numbers, than those that currently take water taxis and then bus to school in Rupert.

Those closure recommendations and a number of other issues that are percolating around the school district have made local Education the main attraction in the news this week.

The Northern View presented a review of the current closure situation, which included a look at the closure plan as well as the suggestion that one of the city's high schools be closed and turned into a junior high.

Over at CBC's Daybreak North they examined the issue with a comprehensive review of the controversial decisions on Wednesday, including an interview with Eric Mercer who is the Superintendent of School District 52.

Thursday’s Daily News devoted two stories to education, the first a front page headline story focusing on the worries of Port Edward over the status of their school and the second one featuring details of the District’s plans to help those students considered most “at risk” in our community.

PORT ED FURIOUS AS SCHOOL IS CONSIDERED FOR CLOSURE
Angry mayor says closing school ‘will kill us’ and vows to find a way to save it
By Patricik Witwicki
The Daily News
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Page one

Port Edward councillors plan on attending tonight's school board public meeting intent on making it clear that they will fight to the end to keep their school from closing.

At first, Port Edward didn't realize how serious the threat of closure was that hung over Port Edward Elementary school, even though Mayor Dave MacDonald was suggesting everyone on council attend. But when the realization clicked in that the District Visioning Committee has recommended closing the Port Edward school by 2010 in addition to the Rupert schools (Kanata, Seal Cove, and Westview) during Tuesday's council meeting, the mood changed and the battle lines had been drawn.

"If they close the school, they're not bringing it back," said MacDonald. "That would just kill us. So we have to find a way to fight to keep it open."

Coun. Murray Kristoff questioned the logic of closing the school, when busing Port Edward’s kids to Rupert would be so expensive.

“The way I see it, if you close the school, you bus all the kids to Rupert,” he said. “And a Grade 1 kid on the bus (with teenagers)?

Discussion regarding the closure of Port Edward Elementary has come up before, and the district’s Chief Administrative Officer agreed with Kristoff’s comment.

“The last time this came up, when they were talking about this, (I was told) they would go into the red $120,000 busing the kids,” he said. “So it would be even more now,” Kristoff then asked how much money from the collection of school taxes within the community actually went back into local schools.

“We collect $400,000 to $500,000 for schools in our community, and that goes to Victoria,” said Bedard.

Coun. Christine MacKenzie reminded council that it wasn’t set in stone, and that these were simply recommendations from the DVC. But that doesn’t mean the recommendations won’t be pushed through in the near future, and MacDonald reiterated the importance of tonight’s town hall meeting.

“We all know we want a lot more discussion before anything happens.”

Members of the public are invited to attend tonight’s Town Hall meeting at 7 p. m. It is being held in the Charles Hays multi purpose room and will be hosted by senior school district staff and school board trustees, who will answer questions and hear concerns.

Those interested in posing questions are asked to submit them in writing to Secretary Treasurer Kim Morris by emaling kmorris@sd52.bc.ca

District desperate to help its 'at risk' students
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Pages one and three

With one of the "neediest" student populations in British Columbia entering the Prince Rupert school system, there are a number of actions District 52 plans to implement to give students an improved education.

In conjunction with the School District 52 Senior Staff Recommendations presented at Monday's special board meeting, Director of Instruction Bill Ford presented the District's Improvement Team's new Student Achievement Plan, which aims to address the rising number of at-risk students and the low graduation rate of Aboriginal students.

Based on the results of the Clyde Hertzman’s Early Development Instrument (EDI) data and District 52’s own Kindergarten Assessment tool, there is concern about a large percentage of children entering the school system. Based on the district’s Kindergarten Assessment, 47 per cent of Kindergarten students this school year were considered “at-risk” in terms of basic skill development for entry into school, while 74 per cent of students entering kindergarten were considered “at-risk” in phonological development.

What is also concerning is that these percentages for at-risk kindergarten students have doubled during the last four school years in both categories. The only positive aspect is that the percentage of aboriginal students in these at-risk categories has decreased in that time period – although only slightly.

What the new Student Achievement Plan is looking to implement in hopes of combating these negative trends is capping kindergarten class sizes at 20 students and ensuring that all kindergarten classes have a dedicated child care worker, as well as expanding the all-day program, but based on the successes of these two schools and the Ministry of Education’s interest in implementing the program province-wide, soon every school could be utilizing full-day Kindergarten classes.

“So far, we have one year’s worth of evidence in terms of how those pilot programs are operating, so we have qualitative evidence based on our Kindergarten Assessment, and we also have qualitative evidence based on parent and teacher feedback,” said Ford.

“All indications are that this all-day model that we are piloting is a success. Based on the needs of the kids walking through our doors in kindergarten, I’m not sure how we as a district could not embrace this as a model.”

Other changes the Student Achievement Plan calls for are increasing the amount of time elementary counselors spend in district schools – the district currently employs two full time counsellors.

Ford says those two counsellors have reported a significant increase in the demand for their services, especially in the last five to seven years, as each of them has reported 100 students on their direct caseloads this past year.

Another increase would come in the form of teacher-librarian time, which Ford says currently equals 0.2 of a full-time position dedicated to the library for each of the district’s schools.
Some other key actions that the district could soon see implemented with the re-allocation of resources from school closures are the establishment of reading program mentors at all elementary schools to promote literacy among students, as well as a rethinking and redesigning of the current alternate school program for students in Grades 8 to 12.

The District Improvement Team is also looking to establish more learning experiences in classrooms that reflect Aboriginal cultures to better engage Aboriginal students, such as the establishment and staffing of Aboriginal cultural rooms in both secondary schools that would hopefully improve those students’ sense of welcome and belonging.

40 per cent decline in student population at the heart of school decisions to come

The declining student population of Prince Rupert on a downward trend since 1997 has proven to be the contributing factor in the need for a consolidation of some of the district's schools. With the average Prince Rupert school operating at around 56 per cent capacity, the ability to operate that many buildings and their associated costs is starting weigh heavily on the School District.

The prospect of consolidation is a task that is no doubt a hard one to work on, but with only so much money to go around for the many needs of the district's schools, it is an issue that will be addressed this spring.

School District 52 which holds a special meeting Thursday evening (this evening), provided some background on Monday night as to the factors that are going into the decision making that may see any number of schools close under a variety of different scenarios.

The most mentioned schools for closure thus far have been Seal Cove, Kanata and Westview, which all seem more or less now assigned to their fate it seems. But recent discussions have also added the Port Edward School to the mix, a notion that has not been well received on the other side of Mounts Hays and Oldfield.

The Daily News provided a fair amount of background on the revelations from Monday night as part of the Wednesday newspaper, though it only scratches the surface of what the Visioning committee has been working on over the last year.

For complete information on the District Visioning Committee's deliberations so far the School District website has posted full reports for the public to view.

While Thursday's (tonight's) meeting will no doubt be a heated and emotional affair, it most likely will only be the opening discussion in what will be a long and contentious spring for all of those involved or interested in education in Prince Rupert.

Advisors explain school closure rationale
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Pages one and five

After months of public uncertainty about why the District Visioning Committee was recommending closing Seal Cove, Kanata and Westview elementary schools, Monday night's special school board meeting saw a detailed explanation of how the committee had reached its conclusion.

Superintendent and DVC Chair Eric Mercer began by explaining that School District 52 has seen a 40 per cent decline in enrollment since 1997, placing it among the top 10 districts in British Columbia for decline in student enrollment.

After looking at all facilities in the district, the DVC realized there are $13 million in non-funded capital projects for schools, and another $4.3 million in annual maintenance costs.
All schools in the district are in need of new roofs and upgrades to their heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

Mercer said that while the committee was encouraged to look beyond school closures, members felt the issue must be addressed in order for any further planning and visioning to occur.

Elementary schools in Prince Rupert are operating at an average of 56 per cent capacity, with Seal Cove and Kanata representing the lowest capacity schools in the district. The two schools also have the third- and fourth-highest costs for facility upgrades in the district, after Conrad and Roosevelt. Westview was brought into the mix because it is one of the smallest schools in the district, and despite being almost full, the school would not be able to absorb an influx of students should other schools close and therefore does not serve the immediate needs of the district.

"It is one of the smaller 'small' schools, and the French Immersion program could be transferable to any central location," said Mercer. "The one school that has the greatest capacity is one of our larger 'small' schools, hence Roosevelt became a potential site for the French Immersion program, because it would fit."

Deciding that the option of doing nothing to fix the problems of declining enrollment, building improvements and maintenance was unacceptable, the DVC was left with a total of 10 scenarios.
While several of the proposed scenarios would reduce capital costs by millions and bring capacity utilization up to at least 75 per cent, it was 'Scenario 10' that was identified as the "solution," to which the rest of the committee agreed.

In Scenario 10, students from Seal Cove, Kanata and Westview would be moved to Conrad, Lax Kxeen, Pineridge and Roosevelt.

It was between December 2007 and February 2008 that district's senior management detailed the business case and logistics of Scenario 10, which they believed would increase opportunities and achievement for local students. In their recommendations presented to school board trustees, they calculated that by following the plan of Scenario 10, the district could save nearly $8 million during the next five years - all of which could go directly into educational programs for students.

In backing the DVC's recommendation for school closures, senior staff calculated that schools would be near or greater than the ministry-recognized 'small school' size of 250 students.
Three-way grade splits, which are problematic for students and teachers, could be reduced from six existing classrooms to only four, and the larger student populations could mean even fewer two-grade split classrooms.

The district could save $426,568 in operating funds in the first year of closures, and $801,568 in operating funds in the second and all subsequent years of closure.

In addition to the savings in operating costs, the three school closures would amount to a reduction of $4,360,445 in known capital project budgets, and bring the district average capacity utilization up to 87 per cent. Furthermore, senior staff pointed out that having District 52 schools at 87 per cent capacity would mean the district could get on the Ministry of Education's waiting list to receive a new school, a list with a current wait time of at least four years.

The senior staff recommendations also made note that schools operating below the 'small school' requirement of 220 to 250 students do not qualify for adequate funding, and therefore take funding away from other district schools and programs in order to cover costs. Staff stated that the district net shortfall this year will amount to $892,000, money that could have been spent on more teachers, child care workers, computers or building improvements.

The Daily News would like to note that this only represents a brief summary of the DVC and District Senior Staff recommendations and reasoning behind those recommendations. Anyone wishing to find out more about the issues is encouraged to visit the School District 52 website at www.sd52.bc.ca where all documents are available in full.

Members of the public are also encouraged to attend Thursday night's Town Hall meeting at 7 p.m. in the Charles Hays Multi-Purpose Room, where senior staff and school board trustees will answer questions and hear concerns.

Those interested in posing questions are asked to submit them in writing to Secretary-Treasurer Kim Morris by Thursday night at kmorris@sd52.bc.ca.

See tomorrow's Daily News for the Distict's Improvement Team's Student Achievement Plan and what the group hopes to implement in the district as soon as possible.

School consolidation up for debate at the School District

The prospect of large super schools replacing the smaller more neighbourhood friendly ones of today at School District 52 was the topic of a wide ranging discussion last week.

The recent release of the final report of the District Visioning Committee has been the main focus of the debate for the last few weeks, as local teachers through their union the PRDTU express their concerns for the level of education in the district and where the future may be going.

The Visioning report has called for the closure of Seal Cove and Kanata schools at the end of this current school year, with Westview school on the west side of town to close at the end of the 2009 school year.

Other topics from the report included the potential closure of Port Edward school and the movement of its students to a school in Prince Rupert, the merger of the two city high schools into one school with a junior high school set up at the school that is closed.

While those items are ones of potential controversy, at the moment its the creation of large elementary schools on both sides of the city that has the main stage, providing for many questions over the timeline of the committees recommendations and whether the decisions were already made even before the committee had finished its work.

The Monday Daily News provided some helpful background on the issue, a situation that hits home for many Prince Rupert residents. At the moment the deliberations of the Visioning Committee seem to have created far more questions than they have provided answers for.

The report leaves it to School District Managers, trustees, teachers and parents to sort out the details and figure out where to proceed from here.

Bigger is not better say teachers
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Monday, February 25, 2008
Page five

Last Tuesday's School Board Meeting saw a number of questions arise around the future of education in Prince Rupert, brought forth by members of the public, teachers and support staff.

The Prince Rupert District Teacher's Union made a presentation that outlined research they feel points to the benefit that smaller schools provide students and communities, and ultimately posed some questions to the board.

"Is the vision we have for education in Prince Rupert a large Roosevelt on the West Side and a large, possibly rebuilt, Conrad on the east?" asked one teacher on behalf of the PRDTU.

"What will the social map of Prince Rupert look like should the small schools on the east side, and possibly Port Edward, consolidate into one large school? Which schools will gain the reputation as 'rough' or 'poor'? Which will be seen as the 'elite' schools? And I encourage you to ask yourselves: 'Is this equitable?'"

The District Visioning Committee's final report was delivered to the board, which included 13 recommendations in total, the most notable being the closures of Seal Cove and Kanata elementary schools as of June 2008, with Westview to follow in 2009.

The other recommendations from the final report include studying the continued viability of Port Edward Community School, centralizing district staff at another site, providing transportation services for any families adversely impacted by changes, exploring the possibility of creating a single secondary school and a middle or junior school at one of the present secondary school sites, an expansion and development of the present alternative education program, using any district savings to enhance current educational programming, and lastly that the District Visioning Committee continue its role of supporting district change.

The question and answer period following the board meeting focused largely around the topic of transparency, with most parties wondering if the DVC decision-making process would be revealed in detail and whether DVC representatives would be available to answer questions from school board trustees and the public.

"As a brief participant in the visioning committee, it was my understanding that was never a committee that was supposed to be shrouded in secrecy," said Joanna Larson, PRDTU president. "So it's puzzling to me why these people wouldn't be invited to actually speak to their opinions or how these decisions were made. They were supposed to represent the public at large, so I would like to think if they were requested to be at this town hall meeting to answer questions, possibly to the public but at least to the board, that they wouldn't feel any reason to not be able to do that."

Superintendent and DVC Chair Eric Mercer responded that what Larson was asking for amounts to a fundamental change in what was agreed upon by participants last year when the committee was formed.

"At the outset, committee members asked us, 'Are we going to be used as a scapegoat here? Will we be held publicly accountable for the recommendations and research we've done?'" said Mercer. "I told them that no, they would not, as the final decision does lie with the board."

"That's fine, but it speaks volumes," said Larson.

School Board Chair Tina Last then said that the onus falls on trustees to ask committee members how they arrived at their recommendations, and what information they took into account.

"I don't believe it's fair to ask the two stakeholder representatives to stand up and be the public spokespeople for the majority recommendations. That's not what we asked them to do," said Last. "If some members of the District Visioning Committee choose to be there and answer questions we wouldn't keep them from doing that, but that wasn't what we asked them to do."
Other concerns were voiced around the lack of information that had been released to the public regarding the DVC recommendations.

"[The DVC has] come to these conclusions and you talk about the visioning committee doing all this research, but [they] want to put children into Conrad school and there's more structural and safety concerns there," said parent June Lewis.

"You're telling us with all this that you're trying to be transparent, but there's nothing being shared with us. That's why we're all asking questions, because there is no transparency."
Speaking for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 882, Colleen Wiens stated it was clear that closing Seal Cove and Kanata was a done deal even before this committee met for the first time in November of 2007, as maintenance workers had already been told to prepare Conrad for an influx of students in September 2008. Wiens said the reasons for closing schools were weak, and that the only reason the I.U.O.E. would even consider recommending school closures was if the district was in financial debt.

"I would hope that on (Feb. 25) when we meet again that's exactly what it's for, to make it quite apparent how the District Visioning Committee came to these decisions," said another member of the public. "So on Monday, when we see what other people saw and how they came to their conclusions, we might be absolutely satisfied with those decisions."

Tonight's special open board meeting will commence at 7 p.m. in the Charles Hays Secondary School Multi-Purpose room, when the District Visioning Committee recommendations will be looked at in further detail and school district senior staff will present the board with their own recommendations on education and facilities plans.

Leading the way at Roosevelt school

With the provincial government looking to put more emphasis on early childhood learning, an interesting program being run at Roosevelt Park Community School could very well prove to be a vital bit of research.

Roosevelt’s all day kindergarten program, the only one of its kind in School District 52 and one of only a few across the province, is perhaps exactly the kind of testing ground that province is looking for as it seeks out answers to both early education and First Nations educational opportunities.

With a school population that is heavily influenced by First Nations children’s needs and providing for a number of local initiatives within the school to foster learning, the program at Roosevelt could become a template for future educational prospects across the province.

The Roosevelt experiment shows that it takes some creative meaures and the help of the community to tackle the issues that are affecting students these days.

Something which the Fraser Institute might wish to investigate, before they cobble together their next batch of controversial school rankings. Numbers don't always tell the full story as Mark Kelley discovered in his now Rupert famous documentary for the CBC.

The Daily News featured the successful program at Roosevelt as their front page story in Friday’s paper.

ROOSEVELT SUCCESS STORY MAY HOLD LESSONS FOR B. C.
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Friday, February 15, 2008
Pages one and three

Roosevelt school could be blazing an important trail that other elementary schools in B.C. will end up following.

Education Minister Shirley Bond said this week that British Columbians are excited about the government's intention to explore the possibility of all-day kindergarten.

While the concept may be new for many districts, Prince Rupert is ahead of the curve in exploring new and innovative ways of encouraging early learning and development ideas.
Kindergarten teacher Bea Skog's class at Roosevelt Park Community School is already a full-day class, and she says she is in full support of expanding the platform to more schools across the district and the province.

"It's doing absolutely great things, and I really believe in the program," said Skog. "With the all-day K, everything is more focused and structured and you get the kids used to the structure of the day. Other teachers and people who come into the classroom have commented they are a very different students than they have seen before."

As the only full-day Kindergarten class in the district, and perhaps one of only a handful in the province, Skog and Robyn Garon, Success By Six coordinatory, both say it will be interesting to find out whether the program has any measurable differences in comparison to half-day classes.

The Ministry of Education has said few details accompany their plan to explore all-day Kindergarten except to say the government has no model for such a program, so Skog may be in for a surprise if the ministry begins to pay particular attention to her classroom.

"If they did want to come in and see how it worked, I would be more than fine with it because I fully believe in the value of teaching the kids all day," said Skog.

"The program really reflects the culture of Roosevelt school, because the class is basically all First Nations students. But those few who aren't do take a lot of pride in learning something new, whether it's the Sm'algyax language or other First Nations oriented learning."

Prince Rupert will have a better idea of how all young children in the community are developing next week when local results of the Early Child Development Mapping Project are unveiled. A community meeting at Roosevelt Park Community School on Tuesday will discuss the newly compiled information from the Human Early Learning Partnership on school readiness and socio-economic factors for kindergarten students in School District 52.

The data was collected during three years to provide an assessment of the changes in children's development, and Joanne Schroeder from HELP will present an overview of the Early Development Instrument results and discuss their implications in a large group format.

"It's the second round of results from the EDI, and after Joanne gives us the results, there will be time for people to ask questions around 'why' or 'where' and she'll be able to focus on a particular school or neighbourhood level," said Garon.

"Policy-makers and community members can use this information to develop effective policies and programs to help children get the best possible start in life, so it will be very interesting to learn the latest results."

After Schroeder presents the results, there will be an opportunity to examine results for the community in more detail with specific analysis of developmental domains and local populations, with opportunity for open dialogue and questions. Garon says that anyone in the community who is interested in supporting young children is encouraged to attend, including: parents, early childhood educators, school district personnel, community leaders, politicians, social workers, public health nurses, early intervention therapists, community developers, municipal planners, parent educators, and family support workers.

The meeting will be held at Roosevelt school on Tuesday between 3:30 and 5 p.m. in the school library,. Those interested in attending can RSVP by contacting Robyn Garon at 250-624-1469 or by email at robyngaron@gmail.com.

Green Party seeks educational investment in First Nations students

Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party is calling on Ottawa to invest more resources into the education of First Nations youth, providing for more funding to those schools on Canadian reserves, which have been getting by for too long on reduced budgets.

As part of their story on First Nations education, the Daily News combined May’s comments with details of how School District 52 is working with First Nations, in order to try to close the funding gap and increase the graduation rate of area First Nation students.

The details of the story were in Thursday’s Daily News.

Invest now in quality Aboriginal education, say Greens
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Pages one and three

The Green Party of Canada is calling on the government to better address shortcomings that exist in First Nations education in the next budget.

"Forty per cent of First Nations people live on reserves with growing youth populations and these young people are being disadvantaged by paltry education budgets," said Elizabeth May, Green Party leader.

"It is worrying that the government has taken no action to increase the budget for services and assure the quality of education received."

The Assembly of First Nations conducted education funding analysis and discovered that band schools receive an average of $2,000 less than provincial schools for each student living on-reserve.

Also troublesome is the 28 year education gap identified by the Auditor General in 2004. It was estimated that it will take 28 years for graduation rates of Aboriginal students to reach those of non-Aboriginal students.

As it stands, close to 70 per cent of First Nations students in Canada do not graduate from high school, and the Auditor General has warned the chasm will continue to grow.

“Naturally, an increasing population will result in a greater demand for services. It isn’t rocket science,” said Lorraine Rekmans, Green party Aboriginal affairs critic.

“If we don’t spend the money on education, we are shortchanging not only the youth but Canada as well. First Nations youth have potential to contribute significantly more to Canada, but we must first invest in their success. It’s past time for this government to address Aboriginal youth in the federal budget.”

Debbie Leighton-Stephens, District 52 principal of First Nations Education says that while funding for community schools is less than provincial schools, it has improved in recent years.
“I know over many years it was quite a bit lower than the funding that comes to public schools, and it’s always been a concern for Aboriginal leaders and educators in our province,” she said.

“In our district, the graduation rate last year was only 49 per cent for Aboriginal students, but for non Aboriginal students we’re higher than the provincial average, between 85 and 90 per cent.

However, Leighton-Stephens and other educators know what a long way School District 52 has come in raising graduation rates for First Nations students in the last ten years, from when Aboriginal graduation rates were as low as 20 and 25 per cent. That said, she would like to see more funding allocated for First Nations education in districts such as Prince Rupert, where class sizes and diversity of student needs is a major issue for educators.

“I know it’s an issue province-wide as well, because it is very hard for teachers to meet all of the needs that a high percentage of our students have,
said Leighton-Stephens.

“(More funding) would allow us to develop more programs locally to really engage our learners, not just to go away for post-secondary, but to give our young people more opportunities locally.
See tomorrow’s edition of the Daily News for further coverage on First Nations education and the problems being faced in our communities.

Focus on school closures leads teachers away from visioning committee

The District’s teachers are taking a walk, disappointed in the terms of the recent interim report to the District Visioning Committee. With a number of conclusions which kept the focus on the prospect of School Closures in Prince Rupert, the teacher’s union felt that the best course of action for the moment for them was to remove their organization from the process.

The teachers union was concerned that the Committee was focusing too much on financials and not enough on the students needs, and admits to being confused as to why a decision to close schools was being made while the District carried a financial surplus

The Daily News featured their concerns and some background on their decision in Wednesday’s Daily News, with a front page story.

ANGRY TEACHERS WALK AWAY FROM VISIONING COMMITTEE
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Pages one and three

Following several months of involvement, the Prince Rupert District Teacher's Union has decided to withdraw from the District Visioning Committee.

Originally formed in September 2007 with the goal of having stakeholders engage in a visioning process to determine school district plans for the next five to 10 years, District 52 teachers said the visioning committee was unable to move beyond a school closure plan.

"The PRDTU went into this with the genuine hope that they could contribute planning for the future needs in our community," said Joanna Larson, president of the PRDTU. "We were very disappointed when the interim report to the board was released and instead of a visioning document, it was really a plan to close schools."

The report was the centre of much debate among trustees at the District 52 school board meeting earlier this month when it was made clear to the board that the PRDTU and the local International Union of Operating Engineers did not feel the position of their members were represented in the interim report. As of the meeting two weeks ago, both unions were considering stepping away from the DVC.

"Some of the representatives at the table have been very vocal that the real purpose of the committee is about saving money," said Larson. "Teachers wanted to address issues such as student safety, achievement, comprehension, high school programs and alternate education."
With the PRDTU now gone from the committee, the DVC is now comprised of members from the Principals Association, the IUOE, the District Parent Advisory Committee, the Aboriginal Education Council, secondary school students and the City of Prince Rupert. Larson said that, even if school closure was the focus, of the DVC, the two most costly buildings to upgrade were not identified for possible closure.

"Two of the schools named in the interim report were selected because the board had already slated them for closure last year. The other school was chosen because it would boost the number of students in the remaining schools to a higher capacity."

"This is what has upset teachers. The board, and now this committee have given no consideration to the education needs of the students in the district with regards to closing these three schools," said Larson.

At the January school board meeting, IUOE Local 882 trustee and recording secretary Colleen Wiens told the board that because timelines for the DVC to deliver their report were short, and because the closure of Seal Cove and Kanata had already been given first and second reading, it was decided by the other committee members to complete the process with a third reading.
"To me, this does not support student achievement, and there were no reasons given for student achievement," she said.

"We are all perplexed as to why a decision like this is being made when it is not financially driven," said Larson. "Our school board had a surplus of over $400,000 last year."

District teachers will be meeting again soon to develop future plans to address this issue, and anyone who wants further information can contact Joanna Larson at 627-1700 or 622-7475.

School District elects new chair, but many concerned about potential empty chairs to come

School District 52 trustees elected their chair for 2008 this past week, but the dominant issue of their first meeting of the year was the potential closure of Westview school, a recent addition to the School District's closure list.

When the District Visioning Committee's Interim Report was introduced to the meeting, the temperature of debate rose a bit as trustees expressed their disappointment that key portions of it had been released into the press in December, before they had a chance to even receive the report.

The interim recommendations of the DVC are that Seal Cove and Kanata Elementary schools should close at the completion of this current school year, while Westview would have one more calendar year before it faced the same fate.

While not the only issue addressed by the District Visioning Committee the topic of school closures is of course the one that affects the population the most and receives the most attention. With the timetable for debate on the issue of school closures rather tight, School trustees are concerned about receiving the final report and then meeting with the public in a timely and effective manner.

The Daily News examined the situation in Friday's paper.

Trustees take delivery of report calling for closures
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Friday, January 18, 2008

Pages one and three

Tuesday night's school board meeting saw the election of a new chair but most of the debate on the evening centered around the District Visioning Committee and its recommendation to close Westview school.

With trustee Brian Johnson available to cast his vote by phone, Tina Last was re-elected to board chair with four votes ahead of Russell Wiens who received three. Janet Mirau was nominated for the position of vice chair and voted in unopposed, and the rest of the voting and appointment process ran just a smoothly, wrapping up without incident.

It wasn't until Superintendent Eric Mercer delivered the District Visioning Committee's Interim Report to the board that things heated up and trustees began voicing their concerns.
Some members of the board were upset that the recommendations of the interim report were revealed to the public in late December - before the board had officially received it.

"The interim report was very public long before we ever got to meet as a group, and it wasn't very nice press," said Wiens. "The press being what they are, it was sensational and very disruptive, and scary for parents, and I wouldn't want to see that happen again."

While The Daily News used the word "unanimous" to describe the DVC's recommendations to close Seal Cove, Kanata and Westview, everything reported in the Dec. 21 article was an exact reflection of what was contained in the DVC's interim report presented to the board.

The interim recommendations of the DVC call for the board to "immediately pass a motion that all three school closures [Seal Cove, Kanata and Westview] be approved within the 2007-08 school year," with Seal Cove and Kanata closing as of June 2008 and Westview closing in June 2009.

The interim report states the DVC's goal is "to replace one and eventually several of our existing elementary buildings with new facilities," and that the group wishes its plan be expressed as "an educational growth and renewal plan rather than simply a school closure plan."

In addition to the closure of three elementary schools, the DVC is also suggesting that the school district staff, including those in the board office, Wap Sigatgyet and the resource centre be relocated to the Booth site or another surplus school/district site.

And the DVC is recommending that transportation services be developed for families adversely impacted by these changes, and that any district savings be used to enhance current programming.

Also included in the report is the suggestion that the board explore the possibility of making timetable shifts at Charles Hays Secondary School or other options that would support the renewal and/or rebuilding of the Prince Rupert Secondary School facility.

"As the chair, I would expect the board to react to this, and perhaps have questions and input for the DVC, not in an attempt to influence their decision-making but certainly to give some reaction," said Mercer.

"Now that the board is party to it, I think comment on it is prudent."

Trustees then wondered what the process was now that the interim report had been received, as the recommendations made are similar to the direction the board had already been proceeding last year.

The issue of the DVC operating under a tight timeline was also raised by the board, which was concerned with being able to receive the final report and engage with the public before their March 11 meeting, where school closures will be on the table.

Different visions seem to be coming out of the visioning committee

The Prince Rupert District Teacher’s Union and the International Union of Operating Engineers are both expressing their disappointment at the way that recent District Visioning Committee sessions have evolved.

This after their recommendations were left out of an interim report put together by the committee, based on a group of issues that may lead up to the closure of a number of schools in the city.

The two unions were particularly upset that their concerns were left off of the discussion, concerns that a number of their membership felt were of great importance to the issues being discussed by the Committee.

The rather hurried approach that has more or less left the two local unions shuffled to the sidelines in the Committee plans has the two groups rethinking their participation in the Vision Committee’s future.

The Daily news provided some background information on the controversial issue in Wednesday’s paper.

Unions express dismay at school district committee
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Page Three

The Prince Rupert District Teacher's Union and the International Union of Operating Engineers may both step away from the District Visioning Committee after their recommendations were left out of the DVC's interim report.

The report was the centre of much debate among trustees at the District 52 school board meeting last night, as it was made clear to the board that the two unions did not feel the position of their members were represented in the interim report that was officially received last night. In fact, an emergency meeting of the DVC was called earlier this month to address the issue, and it was decided that the two unions would have their own member reports added to the meeting agenda.

"Referring to the December 21 article on the front page of the newspaper, [the interim report] was not 'unanimously agreed' as reported," said Colleen Wiens, I.U.O.E. Local 882 recording secretary and trustee. "There was no vote, there was no motion. And as for 'we all agreed,' we were directed to take this interim report back to our members. The I.U.O.E. did not agree to give Kanata a third reading."

Wiens told the school board that because timelines for the DVC to deliver their report were short, and because the closure of Seal Cove and Kanata had already been given first and second reading, it was decided by the other committee members to complete the process with a third reading.

"To me, this does not support student achievement, and there were no reasons given for student achievement," she said. "We now have to seek legal advice, so the I.U.O.E. is not sure whether it will be remaining at the table or not."

Joanna Larson, PRDTU president said her members were also dismayed with the direction that the DVC had taken in its recommendations. She said the drafted interim report left out key issues that teachers felt strongly about, particularly what will happen when Prince Rupert Secondary School is eventually replaced. The PRDTU also felt strongly that an alternate school program should be reinstated in the district, because the Friendship House programs is only for students 16 and over.

"The group went away from their mandate of 'district visioning' and making decisions based on education reasons, to simply closing schools in an attempt to get a new one," said Larson.

With twin investigations continuing into Charles Hays charges, students are the main focus of School District 52

While the shock of two separate charges over alleged offences by teachers continue to echo around the Charles Hays School community and across the city for that matter, the School District and the teachers’ union are taking steps to focus on the students.

While acknowledging the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise in a court of law, both examined the fall out from the charges that have devastated the educational community across the city.

The continuing investigations and a review of measures that have been put in place by the District, were the focus of a front page story in Thursday’s Daily News.

STUDENTS ARE DISTRICT’S TOP PRIORITY FOLLOWING CHARGES
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Pages one and two

With two local teachers currently facing charges of sexual exploitation of students, School District 52 is assuring parents and students that its priority continues to be the well-being of students, past and present.

A teacher for five years at Charles Hays Secondary School, Dana Allison Monteith is the subject of allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior and he was charged on Dec. 23 with three counts of sexual exploitation of a young person.

The charges against Monteith were the second set of charges to be made against a Charles Hays teacher in 2007. Michael Anthony Kolesar was charged in March with two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual exploitation of a person with a disability.

People facing charges are innocent until proven guilty in court and neither man has been able to defend himself in court to date.

“The RCMP are conducting their own investigation, and the superintendent is conducting ours, so they are working alongside each other but doing their own investigations,” said Tina Last, chair of School District 52.

“As with anything, it’s until something happens that you look a little closer at all of the policies that you have,” said Last. “I’m assuming as a parent and community member that there is a code of conduct for any teacher. Like doctors have their code of ethics, I’m assuming teachers have their own as well,”

The BC Teachers’ Federation, of which all K-12 teachers in public schools are members, has a Code of Ethics made up of 10 general rules for maintaining high standards of professional service and conduct. One rule under the BCTF Code of Ethics states that a teacher “recognizes that a privileged relationship with students exists and refrains from exploiting that relationship for material, ideological, or other advantage.”

While a BCTF staff member was unavailable to speak to the code of ethics, Prince Rupert District Teachers Union President Joanna Larson said allegations are a concern to teachers.
“We really don’t have the facts, and it’s up for the police and courts to determine, so hopefully the public is keeping that in mind,’ said Larson.

“It’s always devastating to teachers when these kinds of accusations are made, because they all want to believe that children are safe in the classroom,” said Larson.

“It’s just an allegation at this point, but it’s devastating either way.”

Last said that after the Kolesar charges were laid in March, the District 52 School Board began reviewing practices and policies for these situations, attempting to determine whether there were measures that could help avoid any future issues in the school district.

“I know we’ve been looking at practices such as teachers transporting students and things like that, but also (the relationship) as a whole,” she said.

“I know as a parent on a Parent Advisory Council, we look at things like parent volunteers driving students, and ensuring that a parent is never driving one lone student,” she said.
“And that’s for the protection of both parties, not just the student.”

As a parent and trustee, Last was quite sure that having charges of a sexual nature against a teacher in the district was the worst thing that could happen.

“To have it happen twice in the same district, in the same school, is more than concerning,” she said.

“But I believe, as my children attend Charles Hays, that it’s a good school and the staff there are awesome. I have to believe that. This has left all of us pretty speechless.”

After he was charged in March, Kolesar was suspended with pay for several months by former superintendent Brian Kangas, and was ultimately terminated with cause in November following the completion of the school district’s investigation. Similarly, following charges against Monteith, superintendent Eric Mercer suspended the 37 year-old physics teacher from his duties.

Charles Hays troubles continue to echo in the community

The shocking story of alleged sexual misconduct involving a teacher at Charles Hays Secondary School was featured on the front page of Friday's Daily News. As the paper provided a recap of the story that was reported here earlier this week as well as in the Vancouver media and beyond.
.
The Daily kept to the simple facts of the story with a short sidebar item in Friday's paper.

School is rocked by sex charge for teacher
The Daily News
Friday, December 28, 2007
Page one

Another Prince Rupert teacher, the second in 2007, has been formerly charged with three counts for the alleged sexual exploitation of current and former students at Charles Hays Secondary School.

Dana Allison Monteith was arrested on these charges on Dec. 22 and appeared before a justice of the peace on Dec. 23. He was later released on nine strict conditions, which include not having contact with any female person under the age of 18 at his residence; and not being in the company of any female person under 18 except in the company of an adult over 25 years.

The offences allegedly took place between June 2005 and July 2007, and it is alleged that he used his position as a teacher to facilitate relationships with his victims. The investigation is ongoing. Police say they are concerned that there may be additional victims and/or witnesses who have not yet contacted RCMP.

Anyone with further information is asked to contact the police at 627-0700.

Monteith is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 14 at 9 a.m.

Earlier this year, another Hays teacher, Michael Kolesar, a special needs teacher and athletics coach, was charged with two counts of alleged sexual assault and two counts of alleged sexual exploitation of a person with a disability.

RCMP lay charges against Charles Hays Secondary School teacher

"Our superintendent is conducting an investigation for the district alongside the RCMP conducting their investigation," she said. "We're all obviously very concerned and await the conclusion of the investigation."--School District 52 board of education chair Tina Last

It's the kind of news that will once again shake the staff, students and parents of those who attend Charles Hays Secondary. As another instructor at the east side high school has been charged with sexual exploitation offences by the RCMP. The latest charges which were made on December 22nd, mark the second time in a year, that an instructor at the east side high school will appear in court over alleged sexual exploitation.
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Dana Allison Monteith, a 37-year-old physics teacher at Charles Hays Secondary School, was arrested December 22nd and appeared before a justice of the peace on December 23, to face three counts of sexual exploitation of a young person. He was released under a number of stringent conditions and will make his next court appearance on January 14th.
.
In the interim as the investigations continue, the court has ordered a publication ban on the names of the witnesses and alleged victims.

The most recent alleged incidents leading to charges, are reported to date back to 2005, with some as current as July of this year.

Prior to this weeks arrest, the school district and staff of Charles Hays were working their way through the impact of the arrest of a special needs teacher at the school last March on various charges of sexual assault and sexual exploitation.

School District 52 board of education chair Tina Last (quoted at the top of this page) told the Vancouver Province that the school board and the RCMP are looking into the most recent allegations.

The story first began to make news on Christmas day, as various news services provided brief mention of the charges and incidents.

Wednesday's Vancouver Province featured more background on the story on page A13.

That story and links to other news sites can be found below, as well as the information released by the Prince Rupert RCMP on the provincial website:

Vancouver Province (Dec 26)--Second teacher arrested at Prince Rupert school
Opinion 250--(Dec 26)--Prince Rupert Teacher Back To Court Charged With Sexual Exploitation
Globe and Mail(Dec 24)--High school teacher in Prince Rupert faces sex charges involving students
Vancouver Sun (Dec 24)--Prince Rupert teacher charged with inappropriate sexual behaviour
Vancouver Province (Dec 25)--Prince Rupert teacher facing sex charges involving students

Second teacher arrested at Prince Rupert school
Sex-exploitation charges against 37-year-old man
Jennifer Saltman
The Province
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Page A13

A Prince Rupert school where a special-education teacher was the subject of sex-abuse allegations in March has been hit again.

Dana Allison Monteith, a 37-year-old physics teacher at Charles Hays Secondary School, was arrested Dec. 22 and charged the next day with three counts of sexual exploitation of a young person.

Police say the school contacted the local RCMP detachment on Dec. 20 to report an incident of inappropriate sexual behaviour involving a teacher.

The allegations involve both current and former students and the alleged incidents are said to have occurred between June 2005 and July 2007.

Prince Rupert RCMP spokeswoman Const. Krista Vrolyk said, "Dana Mon-
teith is alleged to have used his position as a teacher to facilitate relationships with his victims."
On Dec. 23 a justice of the peace released Monteith on strict conditions that include not being in the company of any female under 18 years of age except in the company of an adult over 25, and not to have contact with any female under the age of 18 at his home.

There is a publication ban on the names of the witnesses and alleged victims.

School District 52 board of education chair Tina Last said the district and police are working together to look into the allegations.

"Our superintendent is conducting an investigation for the district alongside the RCMP conducting their investigation," she said. "We're all obviously very concerned and await the conclusion of the investigation."

Last said Monteith, who was appointed the science department head for the 2006/2007 school year, was "by all accounts a fairly well-liked teacher."

"I'm sure this was a shock to everyone," Last said. "I know he's been a very active teacher and a great supporter of school activities."

She said that, to her knowledge, Monteith has no previous disciplinary issues.
Monteith is currently suspended with pay.

The high school, one of two in Prince Rupert, serves about 600 students in grades 8 to 12.
When asked if any special consultation will take place with students regarding the allegations, Last said, "They've just recently done it, so I'm sure all supports are in place for students."

Last was referring to what happened following the March arrest of another Charles Hays teacher.

Michael Anthony Kolesar, a 57-year-old special-ed teacher and coach, was charged with two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual exploitation of a person with a disability.
The assaults are alleged to have occurred between September 1997 and March 2007. Kolesar ran the Life Skills program, teaching students with special needs in grades 8 to 12.

Monteith is set to appear next in Prince Rupert provincial court Feb. 14, 2008. He could not be reached for comment.

RCMP Regional Web site
December 24

Prince Rupert School Teacher Arrested for three counts of Sexual Exploitation of Young Persons

On December 20, 2007 Prince Rupert’s Charles Hays Secondary School contacted Prince Rupert R.C.M.P. to report an incident of inappropriate sexual behavior of a teacher from within their school.

Prince Rupert RCMP General Investigations Section immediately entered into a Criminal Code Investigation.

On December 22, 2007 at 10:17 P.M. 37 year old male, Dana Allison MONTEITH was arrested for the Sexual Exploitation of current and former students of the Charles Hays Secondary School.

Dana MONTEITH appeared before a Justice of the Peace on December 23, 2007 and has been formally charged with three counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Young Person under Section 153.a of the Criminal Code of Canada.

The Justice of the Peace released Dana MONTEITH on nine strict conditions which include, but are not limited to, the following: - not be in the company of any female person under 18 years of age except in the company of an adult over the age of 25 years - not to have contact with any female person under the age of 18 years at his place of residence.

** A publication ban has been issued prohibiting the disclosure of the names of the witnesses and victims.

The offences are alleged to have been committed between June 2005 and July of 2007.

Dana MONTEITH is alleged to have used his position as a teacher to facilitate relationships with his victims. The Police investigation is ongoing. Police are concerned that there may be additional victims and witnesses who have not yet come forward.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to contact the Prince Rupert RCMP at 627-0700. Dana MONTEITH is scheduled to appear in Provincial Court, on January 14, 2007 at 09:00 A.M..

All media related inquiries can be directed to Cst. Krista VROLYK (cell - 250-622-7700)

-30-

Krista Vrolyk, Cst.Media Relations Officer
100 6th Avenue WestPrince Rupert, B.C. V8J 3Z3
Phone: (250)-627-0700Fax: (250)-627-3013
Email: media.webmaster@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

School's dismissed for Mrs. Gordon

Wednesday's Daily News featured a farewell to a long time Prince Rupert educator, as Westview Principal Janet Gordon bids farewell to School District 52 on Friday.

The paper provided a review of her career, tracing her many achievements through the years, from student, to teacher to administrator.

The Gordon's are off to retirement on Vancouver Island, leaving behind a grateful but rather sad group of educators who will miss her leadership in the local education system.

School's out for veteran educator
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Pages one and three

If there was ever a poster-girl for the successes of the Prince Rupert School District, it could well be Janet Gordon's vibrantly smiling face.

After a lifetime spent in District 52 schools, whether as a student, teacher, or in the role of principal, Gordon will finally be saying farewell to the city she has grown to love so much on her final day in school this Friday.

Now, ready for the life of a retiree, Gordon and her husband Larry will be moving down south, where they can be closer to their two children, and even closer to a Parksville golf course.
It's fitting that Gordon will retire from L'ecole Westview Elementary, since it was that same school in which she began her teaching career in a Grade 3 classroom.

She also taught at Roosevelt and King Ed, before becoming vice-principal of King Ed, then moving on to be principal at Seal Cove for seven years, and finishing her career with eight years as principal of Westview.

"I'm fresh still for teaching, so when people said it was time to retire I wasn't quite ready yet," said Gordon. "I pretty much love my job, and I really hate to leave it. I've loved teaching and I've loved being a principal."

One Gordon's fondest jobs in her educator timeline was in 1986 when she truly pioneered the introduction of computers into the school curriculum. While at Roosevelt, she persuaded her principal to purchase a clone of an early Apple computer. It would be one of the first computers in a Prince Rupert school.

Gordon would show kids how to write basic one-line programs, the earliest of which enabled the computer to count to one million.

"We would announce over the loudspeaker that we were now up to 490,000 or whatever number, because it took a long, long time to count," she said. "But that was bringing computers into the school, so when the school board office heard about me doing this stuff, they thought maybe they should get computers into schools."

The school board officially made her the computer-helper teacher for the district, and she became one of only five females in British Columbia in that role.

"There were about 70 men, mostly high school physics teachers, and we all met in Victoria a couple times a year and started deciding how computers would go in schools," said Gordon. "The first big project was to buy a lab of 15 Apple 2 computers, and a moving van would come to move them around schools month to month."

In addition to helping lead the digital revolution in Prince Rupert elementary classrooms, Gordon has been involved in many projects during her career, many of which are still in place today. She started the Seal Cove Thanksgiving turkey lunch, after borrowing the idea from a substitute teacher at King Ed.

"I remember that first year we did the feast for the whole school, we had all the kids cooking things in various places, and we blew all the fuses because we had so many electrical things going," Gordon remembers with a laugh. "So then we were cooking peas and corn in electric frying pans out in the hall. But that was one of the most wonderful things we could have done at that school, so it's not always about the ABCs."

While teaching at King Edward Elementary, Gordon was involved in starting the Math Counts program, which had students collecting pennies to discover what a million really looks like.
"We had a big shiny red bathtub, and we got up to hundreds and hundreds of thousands, by the time I left it was at around 500,000," she said. "We were trying to teach a lot of math out of it, but we ended up having to empty out the bathtub every once in a while because it was buckling the floor."

Whether it was helping students to win two new IBM computers and for King Ed, applying for inner-city school funding that brought an extra $100,000 a year into District 52, or initiating Study Centres in elementary schools, Gordon has either spearheaded or taken part in too many programs and projects to list. Even though Gordon says it's going to be difficult to leave school life and Prince Rupert behind, it may well be the community of Prince Rupert that has real trouble saying goodbye to her.

"I think the district is going to lose a great principal and leader, and I'll be sad to see her go," said Cecilia Armstrong, who has worked with Gordon since 1993 at Seal Cove. "She's made a big difference in a lot of kids' lives, and started huge initiatives like the lunch program at Seal Cove, or just here at Westview with improving the morale. She really leads by example, and I know the staff is sad to see her go."

Preparing for her final day at school this Friday, and busy packing everything up at home before her departure by ferry on Nov. 2, Gordon hasn't even had enough time to think about life without work.

"What am I going to do without these 250 kids every day to give me laughs and energy? It's a worthwhile job being a teacher in the first place, but I have a lot of kids here that I care about," she said with lament in her voice.

"I'm leaving with such mixed feelings because I've really had such a great time."