By David F. Rooney
Revelstoke’s newly acclaimed trustees were sworn in after the school board’s regular monthly meeting, held on Wednesday, November 19.
Leslie Savage and Bill McFarlane joined Alan Chell, Jeff Nicholson and Elmer Rorstad on the board after all five were acclaimed during the November 15 civic election. Wednesday’s board meeting was also the last for out-going trustees Mauro Morrone and Bryan Dubasov who wedded publicly thanked for their service to parents, students and educators by Chairman Alan Chell. (You can hear what he had to say by watching the video below)
Spectators at the meeting also learned that enrolment at the city’s four schools is fairly stable and may, in fact, see some growth during the years to come thanks to the 100 babies born this year and the 90 born in 2013.
Superintendent Mike Hooker said Begbie View Elementary has 247 students this year, which is “up slightly from last year,” Arrow Heights has 121, up from 107 at the close of the last school year and Columbia Park has 201 students, which he characterized as “about the same” as last year. RSS, meanwhile, has 367 students, down from 389 in 2013. Of note is the fact that RSS also has 19 international students this year.
Hooker also told the board that demolition of the ancillary buildings at Mountain View is continuing and should be completed by December 8. The original Mount View School building is not in any danger of being destroyed and the City is currently having it registered as a heritage structure, a designation that will ensure that it will be preserved. The building may be purchased by a developer who can, however, alter the interior by turning the space into, say, condominiums. The exterior of the building must be preserved in its historic form.
Another discussion of note revolved around the board’s review of various policies, including its policies with regard to human rights and discrimination and sexual orientation and gender identity. The existing policies are under review and during the public Question Period at the end of the meeting Chell told The Current that the board would be interested in discussing sexual orientation and gender identity issues with the ad hoc Safe Spaces Committee that is working to create a more tolerant environment for gays, lesbians and transgendered individuals.
Please click here to read the agenda for the November 19, 2014, agenda. You can also watch the meeting, in its entirety, by activating the YouTube viewer below:
