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VSB wants money for seismic upgrades
VANCOUVER/CKNW (AM980)
Laura Baziuk | Email news tips to laura.baziuk@corusent.com
1/16/2013

The Vancouver School Board is asking the provincial government for 850 million dollars as part of its latest capital plan, to help make schools safer in the event of an earthquake.


In a presentation to city council, school board officials say more than half of its buildings are more than 50 years old, many of which are at a high risk for earthquake damage.


So they have submitted an 850-milliion dollar capital plan to the province, to upgrade or replace 30 schools over the next five years.
The province

 back agreed back in 2005 to seismically upgrade or replace schools by 2020.
 

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  • 21
  1. commonsense posted on 01/16/2013 11:59 AM
    I just read "VSB wants more" which is a typical statement from Patty Buttkiss!
    1. Ken280 posted on 01/16/2013 02:32 PM
      @commonsense They do to fulfill a promise by the Liberal?Con of the coalition to keep our Kid safe and you Liberal spinner are out and about spinning for the Liberals and then when they loose tell everyone that you are Cons LOL! Talk about having your cake and eat it too!
    show more replies
  2. ChrisM_18 posted on 01/16/2013 12:12 PM
    Given how many times estimates are lowballed by government bodies , I wonder just how big a financial liability is out their for the taxpayers

    Undoubtably we can not ignore the risk of earthquakes damaging the schools - and the longer the repair project takes , the more likely we will end up with a catastrophy where children are hurt or worse .... so this is a huge financial problem for the province !
    1. speakup posted on 01/16/2013 12:30 PM
      @ChrisM_18 a really good estimate is DOUBLE anything they quote
      time AND especially MONEY!!!!
      and then expect an OOPS
      and then when there really is an EQ and the 'updates' FAIL
      then what????
      Let's hope we never have to find out

      FEAR!! and KID 'safety' - just another tool in the tool box
    2. commonsense posted on 01/16/2013 02:19 PM
      @ChrisM_18 They'll do their finest sales pitch to say they need money, they get funding and then low and behold, the costs skyrocket! Political affiliation does not matter since this always happens.
    show more replies
  3. HJDH posted on 01/16/2013 12:25 PM
    This should be a priority. Liberals/Conservatives/ NDP are you listening? No one wants a tragedy - why is this taking this long?
  4. speakup posted on 01/16/2013 12:31 PM
    What is even MORE dangerous is when these EQ updates happen...........
    DURING schools days!!!!
    this is when the brainiacks do this work
    and kids suffer for het whole year -
    talk about 'NON-instructional-daze"
    they really add up during 'improvement' times

    WHY WHY WHY would they not do this type of work (or ALL other dangerous messy construction/painting) during the LONGGGGG SUMMER BREAKS??
    How much time do they need to create MORE JOBS IN BC??
    1. HJDH posted on 01/16/2013 12:39 PM
      @speakup i agree, but I thought this work was primarily done over the summer, extending -only into instructional time if the project went beyond that.
    2. AldinaI posted on 01/16/2013 02:00 PM
      @speakup If they only worked on seismic upgrades during July and August, then this work would take YEARS longer. September to June they could do the work in the evenings after school's out, but that would cost more. This work is a major disruption to learning--think of the noise--but it's necessary.
    show more replies
  5. lg_3045 posted on 01/16/2013 03:54 PM
    do public schools have the same rules in place that colleges/unis do? As in foreign students pay a premium to attend? If they don't, they should and there's your upgrade money pdq
    1. commonsense posted on 01/16/2013 07:18 PM
      @lg_3045 They sure do, and ask any university about their funding and the government will tell them to find ways of bringing in money. Not enough do. Rent your schools out when not in use, use cost effective energy products, sell off any unused land, end leases on property under utilized, attract foreign students, run premium programs and do not run a deficit.

      It's a challenge, but it's not difficult. And I have been on 2 university boards; one under the NDP and one under the Liberals.
    show more replies
  6. joes_2868 posted on 01/18/2013 08:23 PM
    Ken280: Once again, I have done your research for you. It has nothing to do with damage protection from earthquakes but an eye opener of Vancouver School Board finances. Maybe next time, you are having coffee with Patti, you can enlighted on some of the topic areas, like consultants with high blood pressure readings, 50 miles away from home do with a briefcase.

    NUMBER OF STUDENTS:

    VANCOUVER SCHOOL DISTRICT 61159 SURREY SCHOOL DISTRICT 70512

    NUMBER OF TEACHERS:

    VANCOUVER SCHOOL DISTRICT 3136 SURREY SCHOOL DISTRICT 3718

    NUMBER OF PRINCIPALS/VICE PRINCIPALS:

    VANCOUVER SCHOOL DISTRICT 197 SURREY SCHOOL DISTRICT 240

    AVERAGE TEACHER WAGE: VANCOUVER, $70,215, SURREY, $67,798

    AVERAGE PRINCIPAL WAGE: VANCOUVER, $103,182, SURREY, $106,906

    TOTAL DISTRICT WAGES (INCLUDES ARE SUPPORT STAFF): VANCOUVER $392,147,188 SURREY, $414,740,660

    TOTAL TRUSTEES: VANCOUVER 9 SURREY 7

    TOTAL TRUSTEE WAGES: VANCOUVER, $218,445 SURREY, $205,267

    NUMBER OF SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS: VANCOUVER, 1 @$239,157 AND 3 ASSISTANTS AT A TOTAL OF $530,932. SURREY, 1 @$257,896, 1 DEPUTY AT $217,825 AND 2 ASSISTANTS AT A TOTAL OF $402,869

    TOTAL PURCHASE OF OFFICE SUPPLIES: VANCOUVER, $1,166,932 SURREY, $1,209,869

    STUDENT TEACHER RATIO: VANCOUVER 19.5 STUDENTS TO EACH TEACHER. SURREY 18.9 STUDENTS TO EACH TEACHER.

    STUDENT PRINCIPAL RATIO: VANCOUVER 310 STUDENTS TO EACH PRINCIPAL. SURREY: 293 STUDENTS TO EACH PRINCIPAL.

    OFFICE SUPPLIES: VANCOUVER, $641 PER STUDENT SURREY: $588 PER STUDENT.

    TOTAL DISTRICT WAGES RATIO: VANCOUVER $27 PER STUDENT SURREY $17 PER STUDENT.

    NOW THAT YOU HAVE THE FIGURES, YOU CAN PLAY AROUND DOING YOUR OWN CALCULATIONS AND COMPARISONS TO KILL YOUR EXCESS TIME ON HOLIDAYS AND IN THE WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING.

    YOU CAN FIND ALL THE FINANCIAL DATA OF EVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT IN B.C. AT kto12.ca.

    I will not bill you for my time Ken. The hip pocket is not an important factor to me.
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