Result of Public School Board Meeting

Result of Public Board Meeting. Draft Summary of Motions – November 27, 2012. One motion was defeated; another motion was created and carried.

B.5. Covered Play Area: Options for Consideration – Highlands Elementary

  

Moved by B. Forward, Seconded by S. Skinner, Defeated:

"That the Board approve Option 2 and that the necessary funds be committed to enable the Facilities and Planning Department to proceed with the covered area project."

Moved by S. Skinner, Seconded by B. Forward, Carried: 

"That in support of covered areas in principle, the Board will consult with the Highlands Parent Advisory Council and staff to select the preferred option and to develop a multi-stakeholder funding plan; and forward the issue of covered area projects to the Policy Review Committee for the development of policy and to the Presidents’ Council for future advocacy."

Planning For Upcoming School Board Meeting

The North Vancouver School District board meeting agenda package for tonight's board meeting has been posted on their website and it includes notes and options regarding covered play areas to be presented at this public board meeting: 

http://www.nvsd44.bc.ca/en/Trustees/~/media/PDF_uploads/BoardMeetings/2012_13/BoardAgendaPkg20121127.ashx (See agenda, page 1-2 and “Schedule B5 of the Administrative Memorandum”, pages 71 -78 to see their proposed options). 

Correction to Finance and Facilities Standing Committee meeting recap notes:

The notes in the agenda package for the Nov. 27 board meeting include one significant inaccuracy in the recap of the discussion at the Finance and Facilities Standing Committee meeting held on Nov. 6th (and we would like to ask if that can be corrected please? We want to make sure there is no misunderstanding). It is currently written that “…Further discussion clarified the primary interest for shelter, rather than a covered play area…” We would agree that the primary interest is for shelter, but strongly disagree with “rather than a covered play area”. At the Finance & Facilities Standing meeting, a couple of people started referring to a covered play area as being large enough for the kids to play team sports under and we simply pointed out that we are not seeking anything so extravagant, and that our primary interest was shelter options for the students; however we didn’t rescinded our consistent request that it be a useful covered play area for the kids to play and move within. In the attached email that we sent to you on Nov. 9th in follow-up to the Finance & Facilities Standing Committee meeting, our suggestions mention that the children be able to play games against the wall within the covered play areas. 

Note sent to NVSD regarding recommended motions:

As you know the motion that was approved in March stated that “…the two options be presented to the board for approval at its November 2012 board meeting”. We are hoping that the vote be, as stated in the motion, “for approval” (option A or B) and not for “support in principal”(option C or D) that would take this into “policy review” and “deferral”. Please keep in mind the fact that the Highlands build came in $700,000 under-budget (and a request to the Ministry of Education can be made to access these “restricted capital funds”). We have been eagerly waiting for this board meeting since the motion was approved in March, but delayed until November so that the Finance & Facilities department could complete some other projects first. In fact, we have been eagerly waiting for this day since 2006 when the Highlands design plans revealed that there would be no covered areas. After all of this time, to place this into “policy review” discussions seems unfair. There were never any policy discussions, nor any public consultation to decide to forgo covered play areas. Given that covered areas have been built in North Vancouver schools in the past, and the fact that the BC Ministry of Education’s Area standards indicate that they may be included in schools in areas of high precipitation, any decisions to stop building (or to dismantle) covered play areas should have gone through a policy review process first. 

School Board Supposed to Present Covered Play Area Options

The North Vancouver School Board will be presented with two options to vote upon for covered play area at Highlands Elementary!! The meeting will take place at 7pm at the Education Services Centre, 2121 Lonsdale Avenue (5th Floor-Mountain View Room). This vote is in accordance with the approved motion: “that the North Vancouver Board of education investigate the complete costs of constructing a Covered Play Area at Highlands Elementary School and that two options be presented to the Board for approval at its November 2012 Board meeting”. 

Public Finance & Facilities Standing Committee Meeting

A Public Finance & Facilities Standing Committee meeting was held at the North Vancouver School District office. The NVSD Finance & Facilities Department shared some covered area considerations, and gathered input from meeting attendees as to potential covered area site locations for Highlands. Some key suggestions that we expressed regarding the location of covered play areas include the following:

 Locating close to the school is ideal so that students don’t get soaked walking to and from the covered area. And we feel that it is more likely to be used if closer to the school.

 Locating against (or nearly touching) school walls is ideal as it allows for more dry space (blocking directional rain/wind) and it allows for ball games against the wall, or simply leaning against the wall if desired. If considering a free standing covered area, away from the building walls, perhaps partial walls or slatted walls (to allow visibility) could be added on one or two sides of the structure(s) to help block the wind/rain.  

Level, concrete surface would be ideal, with perhaps “Four Square” and/or “Hopscotch” painted on.

At the meeting, it was agreed that of the two options that will be voted upon on Nov. 27^th, one option could include two smaller areas as opposed to one larger area. More than one covered area would be ideal as it would serve more students (as students tend to congregate with others in their age group).

The Facilities & Planning Department, NVSD, mentioned that a steel structure is most likely – we think that would fit in nicely with the look of the school. Really, a simple metal structure would do the job. Polygon estimates were approximately $40,000 (materials & freight), +/- depending upon size, (plus construction costs) for something like this example: 

Motion to Investigate Highlands Covered Play Area Approved!

At the North Vancouver School Board Public Meeting, the motion regarding covered areas was brought forward. We are happy to report that, while the motion was amended to later dates, it was approved!  

Approved Motion: 

“That the North Vancouver Board of education investigate the complete costs of constructing a Covered Play Area at Highlands Elementary School during the months of July and August 2012, and that two options be presented to the Board for approval at its April November 2012 Board meeting”. 

We hope to see some viable and timely options put forth, and approved, at the November 2012 board meeting!

In the meantime, the NVSD will look into the potential request to the Ministry of Education to access a portion of the surplus funds, resulting from the Highlands Build coming in $700,000 under budget, to fund the covered area.

Some Trustees and NVSD staff also talked of the need to create a policy regarding covered play areas. This could potentially prove to be a positive for all North Vancouver students as more schools are slated to be built and renovated.