During School District 46’s Feb. 14 regular meeting, the board received an update from its secretary-treasurer, highlighting the district's recent significant step forward with the Madeira Park Child Care project as well as an opportunity to assess their snow-clearing ability.
Nicholas Weswick, Secretary-Treasurer for SD46 provided several updates on school district projects in his report.
Snow clearing
A request for assistance has been sent to local municipalities for help clearing snow off of school sidewalks.
The report stated that the recent snowfall in January provided an “invaluable” opportunity to evaluate the performance of their new snow-clearing contractor.
While the team has been applauded for their ability to manage on-site snow clearing, they often face setbacks when clearing the sidewalks along the school frontages – mainly municipal snow plows that inadvertently undo the work of the snow-clearing team.
In order to ensure the safety of staff and accessibility to schools, SD46 is actively seeking support from local municipalities to enhance sidewalk clearing efforts.
Electric Vehicle Fleet Incentive Program
SD46 has applied to BC Hydro's Electric Vehicle Fleet Incentive Program (EVFIP), hoping to receive funding to update its transportation network.
Weswick’s report states that the application is “a critical step towards offsetting the costs associated with the introduction of electric buses to our fleet.”
The school district is working with Prism Engineering, to develop a plan to integrate the required charging infrastructure at the SD46’s facilities yard.
The report states that this improvement is intended to be able to scale with future expansions.
SCRD-led Joint Sports Field Strategy
The district will also be participating in the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) Sports Field strategy project.
“It's not just the SCRD at that table. It's going to be all the local governments, as well as us talking about our fields,” Weswick said. “Looking at strategies, the potential for shared resources and identifying priority fields potentially for a higher level of service.”
He noted that the latter is a frequent request.
Rob Collison, SD46 manager of facilities and transportation, will represent the district and provide updates as the project develops.
Jordan Copp is the Coast Reporter’s civic and Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
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