Prime seating – Saige Carlson (forefront) and an unidentified student sit in the new Frank Venables Theatre during an open house last week.
Lyonel Doherty photo
Calendar change to be discussed
The board will seek feedback from all staff and partner groups regarding the teachers’ union proposal to have two professional days added to the regular school calendar.
Some trustees support this proposal, while others don’t want students missing more days from school.
The board will get feedback over the next month and deliberate the issue at the February and March board meetings.
Wear a pink shirt
Schools will once again participate in “Pink Shirt Day” on February 26.
This event, sponsored by the Okanagan Boys and Girls Clubs, will see people wearing pink shirts as a statement against bullying.
Enrolment decreases
Student enrolment in School District 53 is 2,357, which is an overall decrease from September of nearly three full-time students.
Elementary School enrolment decreased by three students, while secondary school enrolment decreased by 21.
YouLearn, however, increased by 22 full-time students.
Recalculated funding
In December the Ministry of Education released the 2013/2014 recalculated funding allocations based on actual September 30 enrolment and educator salary data.
If spring 2014 enrolment counts are as projected, the district will receive an increase of $679,146 from preliminary projections for a total of $23,524,959.
As $350,000 of surplus dollars were used to balance the 2013/2014 budget, a portion of the additional revenue supports this year’s expenses.
Because of the increase in student numbers there will be increased expenses, but if everything else in the budget stays the same, the district will have an additional $100,000 that will be added to surplus from last year. That means the budget will show a surplus of $1.4 million at the end of the year.
Rebuilding shop classes
The Construction Foundation of BC is taking action to rebuild shop classes in BC in order to encourage young people to pursue a career in the trades.
School District 53 shop teachers met this month to put together an application.
Share your ideas
Superintendent of Schools Bev Young has established a blog at http://b.sd53.ca
She hopes the blog will generate a forum for educational discussion and the sharing of ideas.
Trustees, parents and community members are invited to use the blog for this purpose.
Kindergarten registration open
Kindergarten registration is now open in all schools until March 14.
If your child will be five years old by December 31, 2014 you are encouraged to register him or her as soon as possible as this assists the district with staffing, budgeting and class planning for September.
Kindergarten spaces may be limited and placement is done on a first come, first serve basis. Parents registering their children will need their medical card and birth certificate.
