Much of the report's careful bureaucratese will put you to sleep. I find it falls short of evaluating the Ministry of Education (MEd) in one key area: timeliness. The abysmal pace of reconstruction project approvals since 2004 suggests that MEd has intentionally delayed project approvals. (482 words) More …
Update (896 words) More …
Four more Vancouver schools have been promised benefits from the Neighbourhoods of Learning project, but other districts are still waiting to hear what's in it for them. (418 words) More …
One of the advocacy projects I'm working on in my copious spare time is the on-going effort by parents to force local, provincial and federal governments to step up to the plate and once and for all deal with a looming disaster in our midst ... earthquake safety in Vancouver and other at-risk B.C. communities. (583 words) More …
The chair of the Vancouver Board of Education issued a statement Monday night, offering a "clarification" of the decision upon which the three schools were selected. Clarence Hansen said a seismic study determined General Gordon should be replaced because the cost for renovation exceeded the cost of replacement. (540 words) More …
We all want to see a transparent, logical, fair, process, one that doesn't force parents to go around the VSB. The Ministry of Education and the Premier have it within their power to do the right thing and empower the VSB with a revised process that allows for the complex nature of Vancouver school requirements to be addressed through a formal variance process. Right now there is none - school communities accept a formula school, or their project doesn't go through. Period. (2583 words) More …
Had the Ministry of Education developed a rational funding and approval scheme, and stuck to such a policy, political opportunism coming from the Premier's office would not be the issue it is today. (1289 words) More …
Database: How safe is your school? (Province-wide info) (137 words) More …
I found the article disappointing, seeing it as yet another distraction from what I consider Vancouver's most pressing facility problems. Broadly speaking Vancouver has plenty of schools. I pass within two blocks of seven schools on my walk to our kid's school two and a half kilometers away. (318 words) More …
We seem overdue, and the province has been getting ready for the next big one by undertaking seismic upgrades on bridges, tunnels, dams, prisons and liquor stores. The legislature will soon be earthquake-proofed. (440 words) More …
Its quite simple, really. Of Vancouver’s 109 elementary and secondary schools, almost 100 do not meet earthquake building codes. In fact, the largest percentage of these schools are deemed at high risk of significant structural failure in the event of a moderate or strong earthquake. (1429 words) More …
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