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FRIDAYJANUARY 31
PARKING: City council works the angles downtown
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IT’S A SNAP
Bill BAILEY/Special to the Free Press Miss Quincy and the Showdown perform a set during the opening weekend of Cold Snap. Events continue this week.
Schools adjust for 2015 Allan Wishart allanw@pgfreepress.com A decision made almost four years ago will have an impact on next year’s school calendar in School District 57. On Feb. 23, 2010, trustees approved the scheduling of spring break in the 2014-15 year to coincide with the Canada Winter Games. That means the spring break next year will be from Feb. 16 to 27, and while everyone agrees that isn’t a great set up, DPAC president Sarah Holland says there don’t appear to be any better alternatives. “Any solution the committee looked at
seemed to be worse,” she said after the current trustees voted to have the calendar adopted at the Feb. 25 meeting. “It’s difficult having spring break that early,” Holland says. “The secondary schools will have three days of their second term before the break, and I’m sure teachers are unclear what they’re going to be able to in that short time.” One element which complicated things was the adoption last year by the provincial government of the new Family Day in February. Next year, the holiday falls on Feb. 10, one week before the spring break here. “The district has the option of moving things around still,” Holland said, “but one thing we did ask is that they not change Family Day.
“It’s nice to have a day when you can just be with your family.” The proposed calendar, as required by provincial regulations, is now available for pubic input before the next board meeting on Feb. 25. The board has until March 31 to submit an approved calendar, meaning if there are any changes made at the Feb. 25 meeting, another month of public consultation would be required, and a special meeting would need to be held in late March to approve the calendar. Holland said one thing became clear during meetings of the partner groups on the proposed calendar. “There will be educational challenges, but I’m confident staff and teachers will meet those challenges.”
Iverson named new fire chief After several months as ‘acting’ fire chief, John Iverson is now the city’s new fire chief. The position has been open since last summer when John Lane unexpectedly stepped down. The city conducted a national search for a new chief but, in the end, promoted from within. Iverson joined the city as a firefighter in April 1987, and was promoted to the rank of captain in July 2009. During his career, Iverson had considerable involvement with the IAFF Local 1372 and the Professional Firefighters Association, and held various positions for nearly 20 years. He was promoted to the management ranks as the deputy chief of operations, in March 2011, and has served as the acting fire chief since August 2013.
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Tuition and fee hikes approved at College of New Caledonia The College of New Caledonia’s Board of Governors voted Friday in favour of raising tuition and mandatory fees by up to two per cent this fall. The move is predicted to generate about $100,000, depending on enrolment. “It will help a little bit, but frankly it’s a drop in the bucket as we look to cut another $1.2 million from our budget once again this year,” said CNC interim president Bryn Kulmatycki, in a press release. “We’ve had to cut
millions from our budget for several years now and it has become very difficult to do.” The college is working to resolve a predicted $1.2 million budget shortfall for the 2014/15 fiscal year, due to rising costs and overall funding, which has been stagnant. “We will continue to look for cost savings with our usual measures, such as reducing expenditures, reallocating unused budgets, as well as early retirement incentives
and voluntary severance packages,” Kulmatycki said. “But we have been doing that for years and it likely won’t be enough anymore, which means we will likely have to look at further efficiencies and reductions.” Colleges are required by provincial legislation to plan for a balanced budget every year, which means changes to the budget are necessary in order to deal with the projected shortfall. Final 2014/15 operating budget approval will occur at the board meeting April 25.