Daily Archives: May 11, 2006

Safe Schools Act

Posted on by

Here is the letter in support of the Safe Schools Act (download letter here) approved by VSB trustees at the VSB Education Committee III yesterday afternoon, as per the recommendation from the Pride Advisory Committee. It has been sent out to MLAs and other school districts across the province.

Update: May 12, 2006 Vancouver DPAC passes motion in support of Safe Schools Act at its May 11th executive meeting and calls upon the provincial government to ensure this Private Members Bill passes through the house during this session.

Please ask your associations if they would consider sending a letter of support in favour of the Safe Schools Act as well before the end of this session of the Legislature.

Bill 33 Passes

Posted on by

Bill 33 passed 3rd reading at 12:03 pm May 11, 2006 without (significant) amendment.

Draft Hansard transcripts can be found here.
Hansard link.

News Coverage of Bill 33 Passing

Globe and Mail Story British Columbia in Brief

Legislature passes bill limiting class sizes

Victoria — A bill limiting class size and the number of special-needs students in each class passed unanimously yesterday in the legislature.

Bill 33 limits students in Grades 4 through 12 to 30 per class. Each classroom would have no more than three special-needs children.

The bill requires royal assent and proclamation to become law. CP

Alberni Valley Times Article, May 11, 2006

Classes will need adjusting

Niomi Pearson, Alberni Valley Times Published: Thursday, May 11, 2006

The BC government’s latest legislation on class size and composition will mean more discussions and careful planning for School District No. 70.

At Tuesday night’s school board meeting, superintendent Harry Janzen discussed the bill and its implications for the district.

“It’s one of the few bills that I’ve ever seen in the legislature that was passed unanimously by both sides of the house,” he said. (Full text of article can be downloaded here.)

Tri-Cities News

Cash key to class size

By Diane Strandberg, The Tri-City News
May 12 2006

Schools will be scrambling to meet new class size requirements with no extra cash to help ease the transition, says the district’s top human resources official.

Rob Carson issued a warning to local school trustees Tuesday that the proposed Bill 33 is “confusing,” its timelines “ambitious” and the associated labour issues “contentious.”

No money has yet been earmarked to make the changes but Carson said he’s “forever hopeful” it will arrive by the time schools have to organize classes next September. (Continue reading full text. Download file)