Prince George Citizen December 29, 2018 by Prince George Citizen

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Saturday, December 29, 2018 | Your community newspaper since 1916 YEAR IN REVIEW

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Construction was underway on the replacement for Kelly Road Secondary School. The $44.3 million project will replace the current 56-year-old building.

Busy, busy year for school district trustees Christine HINZMANN Citizen staff chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca “If we were to look at everything that’s happened over the last year, I think we’ve had a really busy, busy year, which seems to be the new normal for everyone,” Tim Bennett, School District 57 board chair, said. “We have a lot we can be proud of, most recently the result which we’ve had with our graduation rates.” There was a significant increase in students who graduated from the 2017-18 school year. “There was an increase of 8.5 per cent in our Aboriginal graduation rate and an overall increase of 6.5 per cent and we saw movement and further growth in our special needs and ELL (English language learning) graduation rates,” Bennett said. “We do like to celebrate the fact that we were able to see these significant jumps, recognizing that we still have a lot of work to do.” Indigenous graduation rates currently sit at 68 per cent. Bennett said there’s always room for improvement and SD 57 will continue to improve those number so the increase isn’t just a spike in a 10-year projection, he added. “We’d rather have that be the new baseline from where we start to build,” said Bennett, who credits the increase to early interventions that have been available for the last few years. Efforts have also been focused on inclusion, putting emphasis on making sure Indigenous students feel they are part of the school’s community. “We know that once they are engaged in the building, we know students will be coming to school on a regular basis, which will

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impact their overall academics,” Bennett said. Another issue addressed in 2018 was low early literacy rates. There was a large percentage of Grade 2 students who were not reading at grade level. “So the district invested time and money into early literacy intervention and within the first year has seen some significant results with early reading and that will remain a focus of the district as we head into 2019,” Bennett said. In 2018, the election of the board of trustees took place in October. Only weeks into it, the board is just getting situated. “We’re getting everyone up to speed and setting the framework for what I think is really going to be an exciting four years for the new board, addressing challenges that I think are facing the public education sector including the new funding formula that will be coming out, the brand new Grade 11/12

graduation program and ensuring that public education and the locally elected board remain relevant and continue to address the needs of our community,” Bennett said. Trent Derrick is a new trustee on the School District 57 board and his platform during his campaign included increasing graduation rates, particularly for Indigenous students. Derrick said he knows the 8.5 per cent increase in graduation numbers is a step in the right direction but more has to be done. “I have a lot of ideas on how to improve the numbers but I’m pretty realistic and it’s all going to take time,” he said. “I think there are a lot of challenges there and I think it’s important to focus on healthy lifestyles.” Derrick said he believes the school board needs to reach out to community partners like Northern Health and the Ministry of Social Development to make significant

long-term changes in the health of students. He also said as the new board gathered after the recent election he saw a lot of respect shown to one another and was quite impressed that even if people didn’t see eye to eye they still heard one another. “I’m really enthused about this board,” Derrick said. “There’s a lot of great ideas and I think we all have our strengths and we’re all pretty respectful of each other. I think that’s one of our greatest strengths. We have a group that’s willing to listen to each other, to the community and seek input.” Ron Polillo, who previously sat on the Catholic school board for six years, was also elected in October to the SD 57 board. “For me there’s hardly anything more important than education,” Polillo said. “If you look at the provincial government budget the two top-spending items are health and education.” One of the first things Polillo said he learned during his first month as a trustee is that the education system in B.C. is world class. “It’s amongst the best education systems in the world and other areas – countries and provinces – are looking to B.C. to see what we’re doing so well.” Capacity and classroom size are two pillars that were part of the foundation on which Polillo ran his campaign. “Those are still going to be big issues that we’re going to deal with probably for the next four years,” Polillo said. “Student enrolment is increasing and our schools are getting full and we have to deal with that.” Safe and inclusive schools are important, particularly when looking at the success of Indigenous students in the public school system, he added. — see ‘WE LIVE, page 3

Snow crews look to be busy over the weekend Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca Snowplows are pushing plumes, loaders are power-shoveling, and graders are wind-rowing the white stuff. It is the first big dump of staying snow this winter and City of Prince George crews were ready for it. “Snow and ice control crews are in full operation clearing priority routes throughout the city due to the ongoing heavy snowfall,” said city hall spokesman Michael Kellett. He explained that the city is arranged into three categories. Prince George has

Today’s Weather Hi +1° Low -5° See page 2 for more details and short-term forecasts

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670 km of roads and 184 km of sidewalks. A colour-coded breakdown of the three categories (orange/pink is Priority 1, green is Priority 2, grey is Priority 3 and the thick yellow routes are provincial jurisdiction) can be seen online at the City of Prince George website under the keyword title Snow Removal Priority Rating. “Graders and loaders are clearing priority one and priority two routes while sander/plow trucks and sidewalk machines are also operating on routes around the city,” said Kellett. “Snow and ice control crews will remain in full operation 24 hours per day through the weekend clearing priority routes throughout the city, including the

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downtown area.” Kellett explained the thresholds for different snow-clearing actions to be taken by municipal crews. • If at least 7.5 cm of snow falls in a 24hour period, the city aims to clear Priority 1 and Priority 2 routes 48 hours following the end of the snowfall. • If at least 12 cm of snow falls in a 24hour period, as it did Friday, the city aims to clear Priority 3 routes 72 hours after Priority 1 and 2 routes are completed. To aid in the snow clearing efforts, residents are reminded that winter parking laws are in effect from now until April 15. • On-street parking is prohibited from

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midnight to 7 a.m. downtown. • On-street parking is prohibited from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. on Priority 1 roads and hills, the hospital district, and a number of other designated roads. • On-street parking is prohibited from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in residential areas. Parking on the side of the street with odd house numbers is permitted from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. unless otherwise posted. Illegally parked vehicles are subject to a $50 ticket per offence and/or may be towed. (Plowing around parked vehicles can slow down operations and create hazards for other vehicles by creating windrows in the street.)

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