The year that started with an ambitious proposal for an aboriginal-focused school in the Vancouver school district ends with uncertainty, as the four-month-old teachers' job action shows no sign of resolution.
In late January, the VSB launched public consultation meetings, chaired by UBC professor Jo-ann Archibald, to debate whether the VSB should open the aboriginal-focused school. By April, Archibald concluded participants felt it was a good idea. A steering committee formed to work out the details. Members, who include representatives from urban aboriginal groups, started talks in October. The hope was to open it by September 2012 although the start date and other details, such as grade configuration and location, haven't been confirmed yet.
The school board's budget, meanwhile, produced another round of cuts in the spring-this time $8.4 million was slashed. A milliondollar shortfall is also anticipated for 2012/13.
In March, official teacher contract talks started between the B.C. Teachers' Federation and the B.C. Public School Employers Association (BCPSEA). By June, teachers had voted 90 per cent in favour of a strike.
The first phase of their job action, dubbed a teachonly campaign, began when school resumed in September.
At the end of October, BCPSEA filed an application with the Labour Relations Board asking it to rule on whether teachers must prepare and distribute report cards. The LRB ruled in teachers' favour, which meant students' report cards were sent out without marks as per instructions from the education ministry.
The 2011/12 school year marked the start of a Mandarin immersion program at John Norquay elementary in East Vancouver. The possibility of year-round school in the district also emerged in 2011. In late September, superintendent Steve Cardwell told the Courier the VSB could launch a pilot project at several sites as early as 2012/13. Known as a "balanced" calendar, year-round school involves lengthening the school year, shortening the summer break and adding longer breaks between sessions.
"We have not worked out what schools [would be involved] at this point, but we've been talking about the balanced school calendar-year-round schools-for a year or so now and believe that the old agricultural, industrial-based calendar that currently exists with long summers may not necessarily be the right thing for everyone," Cardwell said at the time.
Plans for the pilot are in the preliminary stages and it seems unlikely it could begin in 2012. Teachers need to be consulted and they're not meeting with administrators during their job action.
Good news was unveiled in November when the provincial government announced Vancouver would get a new school in the International Village neighbourhood-it was one of projects approved as part of $353 million in new capital funding for new or expanded schools across B.C.
The International Village school site, which is owned by the city, is located at 600 Abbott St. close to Andy Livingstone Park.
The school board and parents have wanted another school downtown for years to deal with an increasing number of families moving into the area.
A few weeks after that announcement, Vancouverites voted in the Nov. 19 civic election. Vision Vancouver dominated results, including at the school board where all five of its trustee candidates were elected-Patti Bacchus, Mike Lombardi, Ken Clement, Cherie Payne and Rob Wynen.
The NPA picked up a seat at the board table, winning three spots-Ken Denike, Sophia Woo and Fraser Ballantyne. Trustee Allan Wong is now the city's only elected member of COPE-a party that was all but crushed in the municipal race.
The new board selected Bacchus as board chair for the fourth year in a row.
Twitter: @Naoibh
