Start time for the Special Board of Education meeting re Sundance K-5 Elementary program move (3 families interested in this option) / school closure (do the math) Thursday, March 27, 2014 now starting at 6:30pm (in the SD61 Board Room) as requested by Sundance parents.
There’s an opportunity to sign a petition at Change.org here. Trustees have been receiving updates as signatures are added. A Facebook page is here.
Summary sheets of the February 18 community consultation are below.
A website promoting private schools in Canada says: “A comprehensive study on class size made by educational researchers Bruce Biddler and David Berliner in 2002 showed that the smaller the class size, the better the average student performs on academic achievement tests…. And the gains from smaller class sizes are stronger the longer a child is exposed to them.”
School District 61 is struggling with a structural deficit of $8 million – a structural deficit that resurfaces every year after annual cuts and “one time savings carried forward”. This is the result of systemic underfunding from the Provincial government.
Education writer Crawford Kilian provides an excellent backgrounder in his article “BC’s Education Brownout”: “The province refuses to meet the true cost of sustaining our public schools, as a close analysis shows. We all will pay a price.”
The February 18 Sundance consultation meeting in the school gym was facilitated by a Sundance parent. Sundance could contract out conflict resolution services; this parent has represented and provided opportunities for input from students, staff and the community in an outstanding way, and has represented what the school stands for. After discussion and a position statement from each SD61 trustee, there was an opportunity for input on a variety of ideas and space for proposal of new ideas.
Next Meetings
Monday March 24 7:30 pm: Board Meeting,Tolmie Board Room
Wednesday March 26 7 pm: Public Board Budget Meeting (SD61 serves 5 municipalities; this year’s amended budget here)
Thursday March 27 6:30 pm:Board decision on Sundance, Tolmie Board Room
