Parents can breathe a sigh of relief because it appears classes will be in session next week. The provincial government said shortly before midnight on Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with education support staff.
An information bulletin from the ministry of education says the agreement provides for modest wage increases of 3.5 per cent over two years, funded from savings found within school district budgets, as required under the government’s 2012 Cooperative Gains Mandate.
Following local bargaining within the districts, ratification by union members and the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association will be required to finalize the agreements. The agreement covers 33,000 support staff represented by 69 bargaining units, 27,000 of which are Canadian Union of Public Employees.
Stabbing
Charges have been laid against 23-year-old Michael Bernal Zamora of Vancouver in connection with Monday night’s stabbing of a 17-year-old male on the grounds of Britannia secondary.
Zamora has been charged with one count of aggravated assault and has been held in custody, pending his next scheduled court appearance in Provincial Court Sept. 23.
The 17-year-old was stabbed in the throat but was in stable condition following surgery.
Police discovered approximately 20 people fighting on the school grounds near Commercial Drive when they arrived at 11:30 p.m. Monday night.
Kurt Heinrich, spokesperson for the Vancouver School Board, said signs say the school grounds are closed after 10 p.m. and there were no planned events at the school that night. Heinrich would not say whether Britannia students were involved in the incident because of privacy concerns. He said district staff were dispatched to support the school on Tuesday and additional support would be provided if it’s requested.
Vancouver Police Department spokesperson Randy Fincham told the Courier he was not aware how many, if any, of those involved in the incident attended Britannia. He said police are not contemplating additional charges.
A joy of reading
Holborn Properties, the company redeveloping the Little Mountain site near Queen Elizabeth Park, announced on Monday its support of the first daylong Wonder of Reading initiative at John Oliver secondary on Sept. 25. Holborn also funded the construction of 200 mini bookshelves that will be filled with books and taken home by students. The initiative aims to improve Sunset neighbourhood’s functional literacy rate.
Farrell Segall, a parent at JO and the founder of MakerMobile, which involves young people in hands-on projects and workshops that explore art, crafts, engineering and technology, designed the bookshelves and students will build them during the school year. Students and teachers will participate in more than two dozen activities. The school has designed and built a Victorian-style house façade filled with more than 10,000 books donated by community partners.
