Recently, Highland's parents explored
some less costly covered area options (retractable awnings, industrial tents,
less extensive steel shelters/carports) with the North
Vancouver School District (NVSD) staff. It became clear that there are too many
safety, liability, and maintenance concerns to pursue these options. They also
said that if we did pursue these options, parents would be responsible for all costs
and we would have to handle the entire process, permits, product and project engineer
sign-off, contractors, etc. Additionally, since these covered area options would
not last the life of the school building, that would commit future PACs to maintenance
and replacement expenses over the years to come (the NVSD said they would not assist with
maintenance or replacement costs).
So, it seems
that the only way toward any feasible, long-term solution is to continue to persuade
the NVSD to provide one. As we have said all along, covered areas should be
included as functional and essential school building components given our rain
forest climate (and given the fact that they can be funded by the Ministry of
Education within school build and renovation budgets due to North Vancouver’s
high precipitation levels).
If the school
district were motivated to reinstate the covered areas they omitted/dismantled,
they could probably commission a contractor to build some great solutions at a
much more reasonable price (and with volume pricing if contracts for other
schools). They could ask the school PACs to contribute financially and they
could phase the builds over time to spread the costs.
