On the list of hundreds of other new realities the Prince George school district has been forced to address over the past three weeks, the COVID-19 world of self-isolation resulted in the district’s first-ever electronic school board meeting Tuesday evening.
Aside from a few technical glitches which made it difficult to hear some of the presentations coming from trustees who called in remotely, it went off without a hitch and the board was able to conduct its meeting for viewers tuned in to the proceedings of the 75-minute webcast.
Four of the trustees, including board chair Tim Bennett, Sharel Warrington, Betty Bekkering and Ron Polillo, were present in the boardroom of the district office on Ferry Avenue. The other trustees, Trent Derrick, Shuirose Valimohamad of Mackenzie and Bob Thompson of Valemount, as well as superintendent Anita Richardson, utilized a Zoom link to participate and discuss what was a short and non-contentious list of agenda items.
Richardson echoed Bennett’s sentiments he expressed at the beginning of the meeting his concern for graduating students who are obviously feeling remorse they will not be able to plan spring graduation ceremonies and prom activities, as they would if there was no COVID-19 crisis.
“Our hearts go out to the grad class of 2020 during these unusual times and we are committed to seeing celebrations continue when it is safe to do into the fall and winter, should it be,” said Richardson. “So we look to our schools to further create plans to help those students celebrate this momentous occasion.
“I would also like to acknowledge the generosity of spirit that we’ve seen evolve through this time of difficulty,” she said. “Seeing community members support each other. Seeing teachers support students and families and each other. Seeing our support staff doing anything that’s required of them in order to get this important work done. I can’t say enough for the organization of School District 57 who show up for work every day to provide that support for families we know are struggling. ”
The board officially unveiled its new policy manual for review by its stakeholder groups, which will have 60 days to make any suggestions for changes or additions to the 22 policy sections before the board votes to adopt the manual at its June 16 public meeting.
The board approved funding for its five-year capital projects, as highlighted in the June 18, 2019 meeting,. The 2020-21 projects worth $3.279 million include roofing refinishing upgrades to Heritage, Hixon, Malaspina, Mackenzie, Morfee and Nusdeh Yoh elementary schools, handicap access improvements at D. P. Todd secondary, heating upgrades at Las De Bois elementary and improved metal shop ventilation at College Heights secondary. The majority of the budget for those projects will come out of the district’s $3.5 million facility grant, provided by the province.
A plan to have a public meeting in Mackenzie this school year was scrapped due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. The board had already decided, before the outbreak of the virus, to keep the April 28 meeting, originally scheduled for Mackenzie, in Prince George because trustees at that meeting will make a decision on a proposal to rename Kelly Road secondary school.
Polillo reported the annual general meeting of the BC Public School Trustees Association has been canceled. The BCPSTA budget and appointment of an auditor will be undertaken in a virtual meeting April 17. Bennett has put his name forward as a candidate to be a director on the BCPSTA board, to be determined in October at a meeting in Vancouver.
