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.
It's time for a new dust collector in the industrial workshop at McIsaac School Ecole McIsaac, and the province is picking up the tab. At Tuesday's Flin Flon School Board meeting, the trustees reviewed a letter from the Public Schools Finance Board informing them that a motion to that effect passed on January 7. "The dust collector is undersized and getting older so that its efficiency has been reduced," said Superintendent of Schools Blaine Veitch in an interview. The collector vacuums dust produced from the saws and other equipment in the industrial arts room, used for shop and metal working classes. Pipes from the equipment run to the collector motor, which is attached to the exterior of the school in a fenced area. The cost of replacing the dust collector has not been finalized. The project is scheduled to proceed to the design stages in the near future. Veitch said the dust collector is nearly 30 years old. In another matter at Tuesday's meeting, the trustees reviewed a resolution they previously made which will be presented to the Manitoba Association of School Trustees (MAST) this March. MAST lobbies the provincial government for educational changes on behalf of school divisions. The board will send in this resolution: "Be it resolved that MAST lobby the provincial government to reconsider Bill 14 as it relates to the mandatory use of a ward system for electing school trustees in all school divisions within Manitoba and permit the use of 'electing at large' for those school divisions where a ward system may be inappropriate." Many Flin Flon voters were upset over not being able to vote in the most recent school board election, held in October 2002. The mandatory ward system forced the division to split the community into two voting sectors. As a result, the four trustees running in one of the wards were acclaimed to their positions. "I think it's still an issue for local citizens," said Veitch in an interview. The board has also secured the support of the Kelsey School Division in The Pas for the resolution. Also, the board put its support behind four resolutions to be brought to MAST. The resolutions originated with the Kelsey School Division in The Pas and consist of: Be it resolved that MAST lobby Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth to support school divisions by providing the necessary resources to implement a wireless system that would connect each school division to a provincial data network. See 'Request' P.# Con't from P.# Be it resolved that MAST request that Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth review the mandate of the Manitoba Textbook Bureau. (The province allocates school divisions $50 per student for textbook resources, but they must spend over half the money at the Manitoba Textbook Bureau, which critics say does not always provide competitive pricing). Be it resolved that MAST lobby Manitoba Education, Citizenship and Youth to allow school divisions to set up reserves for capital purchases, such as a vehicle. As well, the board honoured a request from the Kiddie Korner Day Care, based in Ruth Betts School, to place a storage shed outside the day care. However, they stipulated that the maintenance foreman for the division must approve of the location of the shed. "We have been storing some of our equipment in garages with some of the parents and finding it difficult to get them when we need them," read the written request. "We have looked for other alternatives for this problem but have not been able to come up with any workable solution." Here is a recap of other matters from the school board meeting: CBC-Television's after school program The X recently visited Hapnot Collegiate, the superintendent pointed out. Student interviews and school activities are set to be featured on the program at a later date. Superintendent Veitch commended the public for donating $850 to the silver collection at the McIsaac School Ecole McIsaac Christmas concert. The school donated the money to a local family whose house had been destroyed by fire just days earlier. A generous amount of toys and clothing were also collected. Superintendent Veitch noted that the Parkdale School Homework Club continues to be a great success, with students regularly attending each week. He also spoke positively of the school's chess club, which has been getting over 20 students attending each Thursday during noonhour.
