The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Flin Flon School Division and its teachers have failed to find common ground on a new contract. "At this time negotiations have broken down," Trustee Murray Skeavington revealed at Tuesday's board meeting. "The teacher's association, we were informed, will be applying for conciliation and arbitration. We will be going ahead and asking for arbitration at this time." Trustee Skeavington, who chairs the division's Manitoba Teachers Society Negotiations Committee, said the contract talks fell apart at a meeting on Monday. The teachers are currently working under a contract that expired this past summer. There is no fear of a work stoppage, as Manitoba teachers do not have the right to strike. In another matter at the meeting, Secretary-Treasurer Debbie Bongfeldt informed the board that the province's Public Schools Finance Board will proceed to tender renovations to science labs at Hapnot Collegiate. She said the school division is hopeful that the work can be completed over the summer of 2004 to allow the labs to be used at the start of the 2004-05 school year. The labs haven't been upgraded since the 1960s. Also, the board learned that the school division must pay a royalty fee to for use of copyrighted music during extracurricular activities, such as student dances. A memo from the Canadian School Boards Association stated that school boards have since 1997 been required to pay an annual fee to the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers. The board voted to pay a blanket fee of 25 cents per student per year, which amounts to $359. Trustee Tim Davis suggested that the fee requirement was gratuitous, rhetorically asking, "When are they going to charge you for listening to it in your car?" As well, Superintendent Blaine Veitch noted that all three elementary school Christmas concerts will take place at the R.H. Channing Auditorium this year. He said the move from the individual schools will allow maintenance staff to focus on their regular duties prior to the Christmas break. In previous years, they were required to spend a lot of time moving stages, chairs and instruments from school to school, he said. The superintendent said he is sure parents will provide feedback on the change. The elementary school concerts are slated for Dec. 15 (McIsaac School - Ecole McIsaac), Dec. 16 (Parkdale School) and Dec. 17 (Ruth Betts School). Also, the board reviewed a memo stating that Linda Buchanan, chair of the Kelsey School Division Board of Trustees in The Pas, has been acclaimed as the new Northern Manitoba director of MAST (Manitoba Association of School Trustees). Trustee Angela Simpson of the Flin Flon board had expressed interest in running for the position but withdrew her name. Here is a recap of other matters from the meeting: Superintendent Veitch congratulated Hapnot student Amanda Quinn, this year's recipient of the Healthy Youth Role Model Award from CADAC and the Flin Flon Community Youth Resource Centre. Trustee Wilson mentioned during his Chair's Report that the Hapnot boys' volleyball team will play in a provincial tournament this weekend in Mirden, Man. Superintendent Veitch commended Yvonne Fawcett, secretary at Many Faces Education Centre, and her husband, Dale, for their work in getting the school's cafeteria reopened this year.
