Member Profile
SPOA B.C.’S HISTORIAN SAYS WEíRE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION By Dawn M. Barker, PrairieVisions Design Ltd. Bob Hardy has seen a lot of changes in his years of involvement with the education system, and he says he’s confident that these changes have moved the School Plant Officials Association, as well as B.C. schools themselves, in a positive direction. When he first embarked on his career, Bob had no idea he’d end up working in the educational field, but when his job at Pacific Coast Packers came to an end and an opportunity arose at Vancouver’s Langara Campus, he applied. The new position had many challenges, but after seven years, Bob had met them and decided to move on. His next step was to Supervisor of Operations with South Cariboo School District #30 in Ashcroft. Here, he spent 11 years reinforcing the existing school maintenance program, with responsibilities including staffing, supervision, program development and manage-
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ment of building maintenance, custodial and transportation services for the district’s 11 schools. When the school district was restructured, Bob’s job there ended, and he took on what was supposed to be a three-week temp position with Fraser-Cascade District #78 – and ended up staying for over a decade! He took the eight-school district through a thorough improvement program including maintenance administration, staffing requirements, and a five year capital program. In 1997, Bob saw a familiar scene, as his position was again eliminated through the amalgamation process. “I was 58, and was seriously considering taking a severance package and retiring, but wasn’t sure I was ready to,” he said. It would appear that the educational system certainly wasn’t ready
ALLMAR
Victoria (250) 383-8860 Nanaimo (250) 754-9775 Burnaby (604) 299-7531 Kelowna (250) 491-3000
I N T ERN A T I ON A L
www.allmar.com
School Plant Officials Association of B.C. Spring 2007
