Regional District Gets Involved in Giscome Elementary Issue

Thursday, April 16, 2009 02:30 PM

Prince George, B.C. – The Regional District of Fraser Fort George has agreed to resurrect its Rural School Committee. The committee will work with the School District 57 in an effort to find some acceptable alternatives to the closure of Giscome Elementary School.

The school has been the subject of scrutiny after an engineer’s report raised concern about a number of issues including septic systems, structural integrity and the potential for mould. There is water in the crawl space, and higher than usual humidity levels in the school, a recipe for root rot.

The two room school which officially opened in 1957, has 28 students. Last Tuesday night, a special meeting at the School District’s Board of Education resulted in the Board agreeing to have further investigation on the safety of the building . Engineers will be asked to remove some of the building’s materials to get a good look at the roof supports and to check for mould.

The Board also agreed to “consider” at it’s May 28^th meeting the possibility of closing Giscome Elementary fr the 09/10 year while options are explored.

The parents don’t want their children to have to take a bus ride to another school, a ride that could be two hours each way.

The Regional District’s rural school’s committee has worked with the School District in the past. Regional Board Chair Art Kaehn says he was encouraged by the positive response from the Chair of the School District Board, “We had some favourable results when we worked with the School District in the past” says Kaehn, “I think we can do the same thing for Giscome.”

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Posted on Thursday, April 16, 2009 02:30 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: highlanderpg on April 16 2009 4:43 PM

Great!! people working together in the community for another option. Fantastic!

There is always more than one option, the easiest option is to close the school, but it is not the best option. So bravo for all involved for recognizing that fact and working toward an option that works for everyone.

Now if we could just get the government to learn the same thing, we may even learn how to operate in a democracy.

what a concept.

Posted by: metalman on April 17 2009 8:11 AM

Yippee! another study and another committee. Will they bring in engineers from California? P.G. and district, the study captol of the world. Really, why not use the trades people already employed by sd57 to check for mould? The engineer says "gee, that looks like mould" for $145.00 per hour (local rates, probably $450.00/hour for the experts from the big smoke) The carpenter says "gee, that looks like mould, and look, that wood is rotten, and that sheathing should be replaced, we can get that done in three days, lets get started" for $45.00 per hour x 2 = $90.00 per hour plus vehicle and materials to get the job done this week, instead of waiting six months for the official report from the high toned experts.
Hmmm, I wonder which is more efficient?
metalman.

Posted by: greatmysticbushape on April 17 2009 3:38 PM

Whats the matter with that new Regional District Director Dumbunny - he should get an old fashioned hunger strike going.