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Possible Discovery Passage school Goodbye to ‘Lake closure ‘difficult to deal with’ www.campbellrivermirror.com
Walmart’
First consultation does little to quell parents’ concerns
Flood-prone parking lot to get repaired
Mike Davies
Mike Davies
Campbell RiveR miRRoR
Campbell RiveR miRRoR
The gymnasium of Discovery Passage Elementary was filled with sombre faces of concerned parents and community members Monday night at the first of a series of community consultations being put on by School District 72 in their consideration of what seem to many to be imminent school closures. After a presentation filled with numbers and statistics – rationale for senior staff choosing Discovery Passage when asked for a recommendation for closure by the board – by district superintendent Tom Longridge and secretary-treasurer Kevin Patrick, the night consisted of groups of parents gathering around tables in the gym discussing and documenting their concerns alongside school trustees and senior staff and brainstorming possible alternatives. Frustrated voices raised concerns about how the closure will affect the area’s economic development and questions about the school also being the city’s emergency muster station north of the river, but the overall tone was one of disappointed resignation. There were a few calls for the district to hold off on the closure to give people more
It’s entertainment for some, a nuisance or hazard for others. But whatever you may think of it, the “Grab your jet ski and head down to Walmart!” jokes are soon to be no more, according to Murray Cream, store manager of Campbell River Walmart. Cream recently returned from head office in Toronto with good news for those who complain about Walmart’s parking lot, which frequently fills with huge pools of water, making much of the lot unusable for long stretches of time after seemingly any amount of precipitation whatsoever. “Work will begin on the parking lot Jan. 28,” Cream says, “and in six weeks, the work will be complete and we won’t have these problems any more.” Ever since the store first opened, the public has been complaining about the parking lot to whoever would listen. It has, in fact, become somewhat of a running joke in Campbell River over the years, going as far as inspiring Internet memes and online commentary about where one could participate in various water sports and outdoor
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School District Trustee Richard Franklin (left) writes down the concerns being expressed to him by a group of parents and interested community members at Monday’s consultation meeting at Discovery Passage Elementary. The table coverings were packed up and the ideas on them will be synthesized before the next round of consultations begin.
time to come up with alternatives, but most of the discussion surrounded not “if ” the school would close, but “when?” Some called for each school board trustee to come spend a day in the school – to see the learning atmosphere they’re deciding whether or not to extinguish – before making
their final decision on the closure, but the majority of points raised surrounded how the transportation for the children to their new school will work and the availability of supports for them in acclimatizing them into their new facility, retaining the culture that has been built at Discovery over the years
and whether the cross-catchment application period will be extended for parents should the school close, so parents can choose a school for their children other than Ripple Rock. All of the public’s questions and suggestions were documented and
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