Christine Grimard
Northern News Services
Published Friday, November 30, 2007
YELLOWKNIFE - The new wing of Ecole Allain St-Cyr will be opened later than expected, due to delays in construction.
Suzanne Pellerin: was elected as vice-president of the commission scolaire francophone de division at the Nov. 9 board meeting.
Andre Legare: was elected as president of the commission scolaire francophone de division at the Nov. 9 board meeting. - |
While the contractor originally thought the students could move in after Christmas, delays in getting the concrete poured pushed the date to around spring break, according to Darrell Vikse, of PSAV Architects.
The Commission scolaire francophone de division, Yellowknife's francophone school board, discussed the delay at a board meeting Nov. 19.
Board member Suzette Montreuil asked how they were going to inform parents of the delay, since no formal communication has been sent out so far.
Paul Theriault, the board's director general, said they haven't sent out any formal communication yet because they don't have any concrete dates on when the expansion will open. They only know that it has been delayed around six weeks, but that they'll consider sending a letter to parents informing them of the delay.
President stays on for another year
Andre Legare, who has served as president of the francophone school board for the past four years, was re-elected as president after being the only person to put his name forward for the position.
With both Ecole Allain St-Cyr in Yellowknife and Ecole Boreal in Hay River seeking to expand, Legare said the board has some challenges ahead, but he's ready to take them on. Suzanne Pellerin was elected as vice-president of the board. Michael St-John, who joined the meeting via teleconference from Hay River, was elected treasurer.
Board investigates taking on Southern interns
Paul Theriault, director general for the francophone school board, suggested they take on interns in both their schools.
Theriault said that for the cost of a plane ticket, interns could help relieve some of the workload for staff, and help with recruitment for the next year.
The University of Alberta Saint-Jean faculty, and the University of Regina both have francophone teaching faculties.
With students needing to do an unpaid internship in their final year, Theriault said it would be relatively inexpensive to bring them up.
While Suzanne Pellerin, vice-president of the board, questioned the costs of housing, Suzette Montreuil said Stanton Territorial Hospital hires interns and they are usually responsible for paying those costs themselves. The interns from Saint-Jean would come up from March to April, while the interns from Regina would be up from September to November.
Extra staff to relieve principals of class time
The francophone school board passed a motion to hire extra staff at both schools so that the principals can have more administration time.
Eric Desaulniers, principal at Allain St-Cyr, said he spends around one-third of his time teaching and preparing for his Grade 6 and 7 mathematics classes.
With the school's expansion and other administrative duties, Desaulniers said it's too much having to juggle class time and his duties as principal.
With an extra $157,000 coming to the board because of increased enrolment, the board passed two motions to hire extra staff at Ecole Allain St-Cyr and Ecole Boreal. The staff member would work part-time, one fifth of a position for half a year starting in January. Gaspard Kabanga, who manages the board's accounts, said the two positions would cost around $34,000, which fits the extra money the school received.
The board unanimously passed the motions to hire the staff.
