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◗ ANIMAL LOVERS
Katrina survivors lap it up BY THERESA MCMANUS REPORTER tmcmanus@royalcityrecord.com
Two cats that were rescued in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina continue to live in the lap of luxury in New Westminster. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in the United States. Levees broke in New Orleans, destroying homes, leaving many people homeless. In the weeks after the disaster, the Burnaby-based Action for Animals in Distress Society sent volunteers to New Orleans and made arrangements to rescue 15 cats. “Most of them were flown up,” said Kristen Schumacher, a volunteer with the society. “We had a member who drove three up from Oregon.” Schumacher said the society was “heavily criticized” by some rescue agencies, which complained that many animals needed rescuing locally. “We just wanted to help.” Several of the rescued cats found homes ◗Cats Page 5
Jason Lang/THE RECORD
Purrfectly content: Kristin Schumacher and Gail Ancill with one of the feline survivors of Hurricane Katrina who have found new homes in New Westminster.
Enrolment almost cut in half at Hume BY NIKI HOPE REPORTER
nhope@royalcityrecord.com
As Vancouver parents organize to save schools, parents at Hume Park Elementary in New Westminster have also been feeling the effects of an uncertain future. Hume Park parent Nikki Binns, who has led the fight to keep her school’s doors open for the last two years, says families are leaving the school because they don’t know if it will be open come next year. “We know there are six families mov-
ing up to (Richard) McBride this year, just from being tired of being jerked around this year,” she said. Last spring, the school district announced that Hume Park wouldn’t have a kindergarten class this fall. The reason the district gave was that only two students had registered. The school had 62 students last year. This year, the district is expecting 38 students to enrol at Hume Park. Board of education chair James Janzen acknowledged in the spring that the school’s pending closure, which has cropped up two
years in a row, has likely impacted registration numbers. “When you start talking about closing schools, some people start voting with their feet,” Janzen said at the time. “Just by having a district talk about closing a school, some people say, ‘Well, I’m just going to take my kids somewhere else.’ … I think it’s almost inevitable.” Trustees narrowly voted in the spring of 2009 to keep the school open. It was being considered for closure in a bid to save money. Voice New Westminster trustees
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Casey Cook, Lisa Graham and Jim Goring voted at the time to accept a staff recommendation to close the school, while unionendorsed trustees Lori Watt, Michael Ewen and James Janzen, along with independent Brent Atkinson, voted to keep it open. Then, to the surprise of Hume Park parents, the school was put back on the chopping block in the spring of this year. The board narrowly voted in favour of keeping it there until October, when the board will revisit whether to close the school. ◗Hume Page 8
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