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Chemainus Theatre Festival presents Delicious Lies P. 14
Entering the Dragons’ Den
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
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Reconfiguration of Ladysmith schools proposed Lindsay Chung THE CHRONICLE
NICK BEKOLAY/CHRONICLE
Five-year-old Adriauna Benoit takes a determined swing during her first Rookie Tadpole game Saturday, April 13 at the High Street Ball Field. Baseball swung into season last weekend as Ladysmith’s six Rookie Tadpole teams — for players aged five to seven — kicked off their year with three Saturday morning games. Major Tadpole teams followed suit Sunday morning with their first games of the season, while Peewee and Mosquito leagues began their seasons Monday, April 15. Peewee and Mosquito teams play through to the end of May, while Major and Rookie Tadpole teams are scheduled to wrap up their seasons in mid-June. For more information on Ladysmith Baseball, contact Darren Rasmussen at 250-245-8595.
A report presented to the Nanaimo Ladysmith School District school board last week recommends some significant changes over the next 10 years, including the reconfiguration of schools in Ladysmith. “Enhanced facilities for learning” is one of the district’s three strategic planning goals, and the board of education has asked the district’s senior management team to develop a draft 10-year facilities enhancement plan to meet the goal. Dr. Doug Player has been working as a consultant to assist senior management with the definition of the key elements of the plan, and his recommendations were presented to the board April 11. The draft plan will be a multi-year plan, and its primary focus will be how facilities can be enhanced to provide better learning opportunities for students, according to the school district. Player said that the plan he presented is directed to accomplishing the following goals: • First and foremost, to enhance learning opportunities for all students; • Second, to garner new (and longoverdue) state-of-the-art replacement facilities; • Third, to consolidate costly positions so funding can go to the classroom; • Fourth, to save wasted maintenance funds; and, • Finally, to improve the long-term fiscal position of the board. The expectations of the plan are that it will also: • Improve student achievement results;
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• Improve program offerings for students; • Renew the approach and improve conditions for alternate program students; • Assist in the achievement of the board goals; and, • Assist in balancing the budget in the long term. The plan is a 10-year plan divided into three stages: immediate actions to be undertaken in years one and two; medium-term actions to be undertaken in years three through five, and long-term which includes recommendations for years six through 10. The plan recommends that the board consolidate 10 facilities, rebuild four facilities, rethink and repurpose the District Resource Centre/Learning Resource Centre, institute three new enrichment programs, relocate and renew the approach to the alternate programs, adjust the immersion program, and relocate the administrative functions. Player said the district is dealing with deteriorating facilities — 40 per cent are beyond their useful life — empty space, dysfunctional buildings, a lack of program enrichment, staffing duplication and a large budget deficit. “In my opinion, right now, your students don’t have the facilities they deserve; they don’t have the achievement they should have,” he said. “Your teachers should have more resources.” The district is trying to spread too few dollars across too many facilities and by massing students together, the district can improve course offerings, create better learning conditions and offer more resources to See Ten-year Page 3
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