Education
Loss of school bus route leaves Cherryville mom in a quandary
CHERRYVILLE - A Cherryville mother is considering homeschooling her children after learning they will now have to walk over nine kilometres to get to the nearest bus stop. Kara-Lee Zeolkowski got a letter from School District 22 in June saying the bus stop outside the family’s home on Sugar Lake Road has been eliminated. The...
North Okanagan-Shuswap budget cuts ‘gut-wrenching’
NORTH OKANAGAN - Literacy programs, grief counselling and class sizes are all taking a hit next year in what the North Okanagan-Shuswap school board chair calls some ‘gut-wrenching’ decisions to balance next year’s budget. The school board approved two pages of reductions totalling $1.7 million at its board meeting Tuesday, May 12. "We have tried...
Shuswap school closure decision difficult for school district
SALMON ARM - The closure of a rural Salmon Arm elementary school has been avoided, at least for one more year. Faced with the decision of whether or not to close Silver Creek Elementary a majority of trustees voted to keep the school open for another year while exploring the feasibility of introducing a Montessori...
Decision on proposed Shuswap school closure expected tonight
NORTH OKANAGAN - Some tough decisions are expected to be made by the North Okanagan-Shuswap School Board tonight, May 12. It’s the meeting at which board members must decide whether or not to shut down Silver Creek Elementary School in Salmon Arm. The school was placed on the chopping block when the findings of a...
Teachers’ union to make last ditch effort to avoid job cuts
KAMLOOPS – The Kamloops-Thompson School Board meets Monday to vote on the district's job slashing budget and the teachers' union will be there to argue against the cuts. The local Teachers' Association will present a report from its provincial body in an effort to prevent the board's plan to layoff 17 teachers and three educational...
Vernon School District budget: What will be cut, what will be gained
VERNON - Three vice-principal positions are among the cuts being made at local schools to help balance next year’s budget. School District 22 announced what’s being kept, and what’s being cut, as part of the 2015/2016 budget in a media release. Three vice-principal positions, one each at J.W. Inglis, Hillview and Coldstream Elementary, will not...
HELSTON: Angry about school superintendents getting raises? You’re missing the point
Many reacted with shock when news broke that superintendents in three Okanagan school districts were given raises last year, but I think we might be missing the bigger picture. What I find more shocking than a superintendent with 30 years of education experience receiving a pay raise — the first for that position since 2006...
Vernon School District joins list of superintendents with pay raises
VERNON - Despite tight financial times, the Vernon School District’s superintendent was granted a raise last year, the first for that position since 2006. Joe Rogers is one of at least two other Okanagan superintendents (Kelowna's Hugh Gloster and Penticton's Wendy Hyer) to receive a fatter salary after the Ministry of Education lifted a restriction...
Vernon School District sees best aboriginal completion rate in years
VERNON - The Vernon School District is celebrating a six year high in the number of aboriginal students completing high school. The completion rate for aboriginal students in School District 22 has reached 71 per cent, the best in six years and higher than the provincial rate of 61 per cent. The good news came...
Shuswap Pro-Life Society’s request to show anti-abortion display on school property refused
SALMON ARM - The North Okanagan-Shuswap school board has turned down an anti-abortion group’s request to use school property for a pro-life display. The Shuswap Pro-Life Society asked to use school district property near Centenoka Park Mall for a one-day display of 10,000 little pink and blue flags, each representing 10 babies lost to abortion...
Vernon School District will use reserves to bridge budget shortfall
VERNON - The Vernon School District will dip into its reserves to cover next year's budget shortfall, but it's already worried about what to do the year after that. Once again, School District 22 is facing a budget deficit, this time in the amount of $950,000 due to cost pressures and a $400,000 cut in...
Preschoolers tackle racial tensions using locally-designed dolls
ENDERBY - A troop of handmade, multicultural dolls called the Backpack Kids have been deployed to local childcare centres where they are bringing a message of diversity and acceptance to young children. The life-sized puppets, each representing a Canadian kid with a different cultural background, are part of a newly launched teaching curriculum designed to...
Vernon Breastfeeding demonstration made larger point
“I REALLY DO THINK WE HAD A POSITIVE OUTCOME FROM THIS NEGATIVE EXPERIENCE” VERNON - What began as a negative experience for a Vernon mother quickly became an opportunity to spread a positive messages about breastfeeding, says the organizer of a feed-in at the Village Green Centre. A few days after Megan Deuling was shamed...
School board getting creative with budget cuts
KAMLOOPS - Another year, another round of budget cuts for the Kamloops-Thompson School District, which means staff will be forced to get even more creative with the budget. School district secretary-treasurer Kelvin Stretch says not only is the district facing a potential decline in enrolment to the tune of 300 students, the Ministry of Education...
Reviewing the reviewers: TRU professor questions the university’s transparency
KAMLOOPS – The issue of transparency at a Kamloops institution is under the microscope after a professor who requested survey results on the university’s president was denied. An email to faculty and staff from the university's board of governors chair, Brian Ross, earlier this month suggested their 300 survey results reviewing Dr. Alan Shaver, the...