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New column from Ladysmith Mayor Rob Hutchins P. 6
Serving Ladysmith, Chemainus and area
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Morgan Davis performs food bank benefit P. 13
Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue Unit 29 Ladysmith’s new boat takes to the water for the first time in the Ladysmith Harbour Feb. 6. It took three years of fundraising and the assistance of the local communities, marine organizations, mariners and BC Gaming grants for Unit 29 — the second-busiest station on B.C.’s West Coast — to get the new rescue vessel, which was built in Sidney. Find out more about the new boat in next week’s Chronicle. ROSS ARMOUR
SD68 votes to close École Davis Road in June Ross Armour THE CHRONICLE
The doors of École Davis Road Elementary will be slammed shut this June, as School District 68 voted Thursday, Feb. 6 to close the school. Following a special meeting held at Ladysmith Secondary, the school board will now send Davis Road’s French Immersion program to North Oyster Elementary, as of September. North Oyster will now become a dual-track school and remain open. French Immersion students currently enrolled at Davis Road will either have the choice of following the program to North Oyster, or changing to English
track at either Ladysmith Primary director of communications, in “In the last five or six years I’ve or Ladysmith Intermediate. an e-mail to the Chronicle. been on the board, we’ve been Kindergarten to Grade 3 With Davis Road closing, its working to get a new school in students in English track at catchment area will merge Ladysmith,” said trustee Donna Davis Road will now head to with Ladysmith Primary and Allen at the meeting. “Now this either North Oyster or Ladysmith Intermediate so students staying recommendation enables us to Primary, with Grade 4 to 6 in town will have transport fill all the seats to capacity and English students at Davis Road provided as per Board Procedure allows opportunity, through having the choice of Ladysmith 4400. the B.C. Liberal government’s Intermediate or North Oyster. SD68 “will explore policies, for an attempt at a new The move comes after the transportation options, for a school. Some argue that there’s school board also decided to specific transitional period, no money available to fund a send Grade 7 English-track including a user pay system,” for new school, but I think that’s a students to Ladysmith Secondary, Davis Road students moving to defeatist attitude.” leaving North Oyster as the only North Oyster. Ironically, there was a moment K-7 school in the Ladysmith area. “The time for decisive action of hope for distraught Davis Grade 7s-to-be from Davis Road has come,” said board chair Road parents at the meeting as can choose either. Dot Neary at the meeting, after the original recommendation on “The district will do a feasibility a similar meeting on school the agenda, entitled the Senior study about the possibility of reconfiguration in December saw Staff Option, put forward to the Grade 8 French Immersion at key decisions stalled. “Taking no board actually failed. LSS,” said Donna Reimer, SD68’s action is not an option.” That option would have closed
Davis Road in June 2014 but would also have closed North Oyster in June 2015, taking French Immersion to Ladysmith Intermediate. But only Neary, Allen and trustee Jamie Brennan voted for that option with trustees Bill Bard, Nancy Curley, Kim Howland, Bill Robinson, TerryLynn Saunders and Sharon Welch voting against. The motion that passed came about after Howland made an amendment to the senior staff option, turning it into one very similar to Option A provided by the Ladysmith Working Group. As a result, French Immersion will now be taken out of the Town of Ladysmith completely. “Sustainability in Ladysmith is See North Oyster Page 3
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