TUESDAYNOVEMBER 19, 2013
Official newspaper of the Save-On-Foods Oceanside Generals
www.pqbnews.com
BCYCNA
Gold 2012 General Excellence
KICK-OFF TO THE SEASON
YOU DON’T LIKE SPAM?
Moonlight Madness in Qualicum this Thursday
Comedy of Monty Python comes to the stage in Nanaimo with a Parksville actor
A25
A27
SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGET WOES
Closures coming?
Trustees facing tough decisions early in 2014 LISSA ALEXANDER reporter@pqbnews.com
Big changes are coming for the local school district and a meeting Thursday was meant to start that conversation with the public. Tasked with finding $2 million in savings over the next three years, local school trustees will have to make a decision in January in order to affect this year’s budget, and it could mean school closures, amalgamation, or reconfiguring schools. Trustees will be presented with a report that will be based on meetings, public and otherwise, scheduled in the next two months. Only one community member showed up Thursday night to what the district dubbed ‘Toward a Future for Schools Conversation,’ along with some district staff, trustees, a reporter and a staff relative. That community member was Scott Tanner, a town councillor in Qualicum Beach. It was the first meeting relating to budget, enrollment, facilities and programs/services in a series of meetings hosted by the school district. District staff will work on the report, instead of having outside consultants come in, and acting superintendent of schools Rollie Koop will present it to the board by January 21. A decision will be made by trustees by January 28, whether they decide to act on the recommendations or not. At that point a 90-day consultation period would begin. That would take the board to April 29 and at that point the board would act on a potential motion. See WAGES, BENEFITS, page A5
JOHN HARDING PHOTO
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: June and Roy Sneddon of Qualicum Beach are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary today and on Saturday night they donned some hats and joined family members to be part of a Mad Hatter gala hosted by the Qualicum Beach Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club. For more photos from the gala, visit our facebook page: www.facebook.com/PQBNews.
MLA seeks infrastructure cash JOHN HARDING
editor@pqbnews.com
The provincial government will consider including the Parksville Qualicum Beach region in a program that doles out millions of dollars annually to tourism-reliant communities for infrastructure programs. Currently, the region is not part of
the B.C. Resort Municipality Initiative, a fund that was split between 14 communities last year. When she campaigned in Parksville in April, Premier Christy Clark was asked if that might change. “I would be happy to sit down and talk to them about that,” the premier told The NEWS. “This community has
all the characteristics of any great resort around the world.” Parksville-Qualicum MLA Michelle Stilwell was asked recently about any developments. “I am happy to take this issue forward to government on behalf of municipalities,” said
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Fill your stockings with gifts from our toy & giftware departments.
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*With purchase $40 or over, See in-store for details.
See PARKS, page A5