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Letter to Editor
ShareGood judgment important for an elected official
Published: September 04, 2008 3:00 PMUpdated: September 04, 2008 6:32 PM
Dear editor,
I believe that most elected officials serve with good intentions and I have no reason to think the current Board of School Trustees are any different.
Competence and good judgment are another matter. I listened with interest to the very charged and polarized discussion last year regarding school closures and the elimination of the middle school concept.
I understood with a sympathetic ear that beyond the neighbourhood disruptions there was and is much concern about the probable loss of valuable and much needed electives.
I also understood the school trustees were between a rock and a hard place because of budget limitations and something had to give, although I did not agree with their solutions.
Regardless of their unpopular school closure decision and school system reconfiguration, I trusted the trustees and School District 71 officials to do the right thing for our children and grandchildren and to at least ensure their fundamental right to environmentally safe classrooms would be a paramount priority.
My trust was misplaced!
I was appalled to learn that my 10-year-old granddaughter reported to school this morning, with the understanding she was to be placed in one of the “new” portables at Valley View Elementary, only to learn upon arrival that it was “riddled with mould.”
My granddaughter and her classmates were redirected to a multipurpose room.
At this writing we have no idea how long the children and their teachers will be disadvantaged in this way. At least the “mould-riddled” unit was inspected before it was occupied but it was a close thing.
This outrageous situation begs the question as to how many more of these portables remain unsafe.
We have been assured by the superintendent the portables have been inspected and he is even making personal site visits.
Clearly this is not good enough when children come as close as they did this morning to occupying a “mould-riddled” portable.
School district managers who are charged with the task of providing a safe learning environment must also be held accountable. We can do better.
Winston Hunter,
Courtenay
