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Parents debate how technology fund gift should be allocated

Should Sea to Sky high schools get the bulk of grant money on offer from the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation?

Or should every school in the district get access to some of the money depending on how many students attend the facility?

That was one of the main issues debated at a District Parent Advisory Council meeting held this week in Whistler.

The Whistler Blackcomb Foundation has offered to give the Howe Sound School District $250,000 over three years for technology.

In order to access the funds, which can only be spent on computers and permanently attached peripherals, matching funds must be raised.

Representatives at the meeting were expecting a plan outlining the technology, education and spending plan from the school board.

In return the school board was hoping the DPAC would endorse its plan so it can move forward and gain access to the funds.

Initially the school board had suggested the greatest need was in the high schools and it had suggested the money go there first and then technology would trickle down to the elementary schools.

However since the Parent Advisory Councils of every school have to come up with thousands of dollars in matching funds many felt that plan was unfair.

This week the school board suggested that the money be accessed by each school depending on how many students attended the facility.

What became clear during the heated hour and half debate was that none of the representatives had enough information to endorse what the board had given them.

"The report was disappointing because we expected so much more," said Cathy Jewett of Myrtle Philip elementary school after the meeting.

"We didn’t get a technology plan and that was one of the things we were promised.

"We are looking for a plan to go with it to say over the 36 months if (the board) had $500,000 what are your priorities and how are you going to spend it, so that everybody feels they are being treated fairly and the high schools get what they need – everybody gets what they need.

"I think everybody thinks the Whistler Blackcomb money is a great thing but it takes time to organize the plan.

"We want to do what is best for everybody and we expected a plan that would help us do that but we didn’t get it."

Dave McRae of Valleycliffe Elementary agreed: "We would buy into this as long as the correct information was there."

DPAC representatives received a report outlining the education plan and list of how much each school would need to raise in order to access funds based on how many students were in the school.

The list also suggested how much money the school board believed should be spent at each school on technology to bring the facilities up to date.

For example Howe Sound Secondary needs to raise $43,473 to access $86,946 from the technology found. But the school district believes that $120,000 needs to be spent at the school in the next six months with a total expenditure of $284,870 over three years.

Myrtle Philip elementary school’s PAC would need to provide $14,594 over three years to access $29,187 from the fund. That is based on having 237 full time students (FTE).

This number does not accurately reflect the number of students at the school because the Grade 7s will be returning to the school next year. However, it will be used for the plan.

The board believes $38,000 needs to spent at the school over the next months with a total expenditure of $48,415 over three years.

Jewett questions those numbers. According to her research Myrtle Philip has spent about $20,000 to upgrade itself over the last three years, which is half what the board is suggesting a future upgrade would cost.

Whistler Secondary will need to raise $23,645 to access $47,291. The board believes $130,000 needs to be spent on technology in the next 18 months with a total expenditure of $146,110 over three years.

In all the board believes $1 million needs to be spent to get all the schools up to date with technology.

Chris Vernon-Jarvis, who has kids at both Myrtle Philip and Whistler Secondary and who is on both PAC executives, said the amount to be raised at the high school worries him.

"Traditionally it is much harder to raise funds at the high school level," he told the DPAC meeting.

Raising the money at Myrtle Philip won’t be that hard. But, he said, he wasn’t sure that using the PAC’s money for this plan was the best idea.

"For us the point is that we have the funds but computers are not highly rated on our list and frankly this doesn’t address our needs," he said.

Jewett added her voice to this concern saying that some schools will have to use money earmarked for other things such as playgrounds to access the technology fund money.

Vernon-Jarvis said he was disappointed that the technology fund has such a limited scope and bemoaned the fact that more creativity hadn’t been introduced when the plan was first put together.

He also questioned how the technology was going to be managed by the school board.

He pointed to a recent experience where even after four months of talking with the school board a mirror still hadn’t been put up in the high school.

In light of the problem with the mirror, "how efficient are you going to be at this," he wondered.

DPAC representative Anne West from Signal Hill suggested that a business plan be drawn up so that it was clear how an IT department at the school board would respond to calls for help from schools and manage the upkeep of the technology on site.

However, DPAC representative Cindy Waslewsky of Howe Sound Secondary said everyone should have faith in the school board’s ability to do the right thing with the fund and manage the program. "This is peanuts compared to the budget they manage and we trust them to manage that," she said.

The solution to the problem may be in adopting a hybrid of the two plans, said school superintendent Dr. Rick Erickson.

"It’s a dilemma," he said at the meeting.

"Maybe we spend half as much at the elementary and twice as much as the secondary schools."

"It really drifts down to where the greatest needs are and that is at the secondary schools."

The way to look at it he said after the meeting was to see it as a district wide improvement. Parents would have to help raise the money for new technology even if they didn’t see direct benefits immediately.

But as kids move through the system all would benefit from the upgrade.

It is also hoped that the PACs won’t end up being the sole fundraisers for the plan.

Once the funds have been secured the school district will be able to leverage them by securing donations from outside sources, such as computer companies.

"If we can get all the (matching) funds from outside the district we will do that," trustee Doug Hackett told parent representatives and others.

"The ultimate would be that we didn’t take any money out of (Parent Advisory Council) funds."

Parents throughout the Sea to Sky corridor can learn more about the plans at their scheduled PAC meetings.