WEDNESDAY
S I N C E
JUNE 4, 2014
1 8 9 5
Vol. 119, Issue 86
105
$
INCLUDING G.S.T.
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Montrose salutes Benzer on Thursday Page 8
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
SCHOOL DISTRICT 20
No change to trustees despite growing trend to review numbers munity committees – employees, community members and trustees While other school boards across – sitting on a committee to look at the province are considering cut- that,” she explained. ting their own numbers of trustees, “But it comes back to the board Kootenay-Columbia is sticking with and they make the vote. There are its representation as it moves into always members who don't want the next election. to change it so of course it gets Not to say the discussion hasn't defeated.” come up time and time again. Last year trustees voted in favour Trustees in the Nanaimo- of setting up an ad hoc commitLadysmith and North Okanagan- tee to explore the possible reducShuswap school districts are review- tion in trustee numbers, electoral ing the number of elected officials areas, and the Ministry of Education at this time. requirements surBut School District rounding each. “There are 20 (SD20) board chair Prior to that, in always members 2010, a request that the Darrel Ganzert said by this point it's too late board strike a commitwho don’t want to host a public consultee to review trustee to change it so tation process required numbers and areas of of course it gets to examine the board's representation did not current structure of pass. defeated.” nine wards within the This has drawn LORRAINE MANNING district. backlash over the years “We debated it and as trustees sit tight the decision was not to do that,” while difficult decisions have been he said. made to balance budgets. The thought of moving away Last year, SD20 decided to sell from a ward system, the subdi- MacLean Elementary School and vided system currently in place, move K-9 students into the former to an open or partial ward/open Rossland Secondary School (now system had some trustees worried known as Rossland Summit School), about the redistribution of seats. sending secondary Rossland kids Currently, each ward is divided down to Crowe, as well as amalbased on population with represen- gamate Twin Rivers and Castlegar tation across the entire district but elementary schools to save the an open system would do away bor- district nearly half of a $750,000 ders and officials would be elected shortfall. The board office was also at large. moved into the Kootenay-Columbia “There would be all sorts of pos- Learning Centre as a cost-saving sible strange reconfigurations and measure. in the end you would save about During 2014/2015 budget delib$30,000, which you know is a sum erations this year, the board voted of money and there's no question to cut four teaching positions, rid that we're looking for little bits one less accountant and one less and pieces now, but we thought the electrician along with other smaller value of having the extra voices on saving measures to eliminate over the board is more important than $860,000 of a projected deficit. the $30,000 that you might possibly “I actually feel that we've crossed save,” Ganzert explained. a barrier, that we've dealt with a Vice chair Lorraine Manning said lot of issues that really divided the this issue has come up pretty well previous board and we've dealt with every term in the 30 years total them I think in a very upfront way,” she's acted as a trustee. said Ganzert. “For several years we had comSee TRUSTEES, Page 3 BY VALERIE ROSSI Times Staff
VALERIE ROSSI PHOTO
Event organizer Sarah Fulcher shared her pencil drawing with her Belgian shepherd, Dexter, who seemed to have a keen eye for art. The Trail business owner, along with her husband Cameron Dixon, are gearing up for Art Bark, an SPCA fundraiser scheduled for this weekend.
Art Bark fetches support for SPCA BY VALERIE ROSSI Times Staff
A Trail animal lover has mixed an evening of art and entertainment together to raise funds for the Trail Regional SPCA. Sarah Fulcher, owner of Barks and Recreation Services in Trail, is gearing up for Art Bark to be held Saturday at the Riverbelle. The fundraising event features a roast beef and pasta buffet, a silent auction boasting local artists like Rosslanders Stephanie Gauvin and Jenny Bailie’s animal and nature inspired work and live entertainment from Jason Thomas, Kate Shaw School of Highland Dance, and Mystic Dreams Dancers. More importantly, the gathering is an opportunity to commend the Trail branch and provide
funding for the regional service that survives on donations. “I just hope that people want to come out and try something new and support the community, they will be supporting the SPCA but they’ll also be supporting all the artists and musicians donating, too,” said Fulcher. With the help of husband Cameron Dixon, Fulcher’s business offers group and private dog training, dog walking, pet sitting and daycare, as well as pet photography and portraits artistically rendered by Dixon. Fulcher is a certified dog behaviour consultant with a soft spot for rescue animals. She started sled-dog rescue network HEART (Husky Emergency Adoption, Rescue and Transport), See GET, Page 3
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