School will be cancelled in the Sea to Sky Corridor during the 2010 Winter Games and no programs will be offered to help out working parents. The Sea to Sky school board has decided to close schools during the Olympic Games even though no deals are in place to lease out school space.
"We believe there will be so many distraction during the Games that it would be difficult to maintain regular programming," said Dave Walden, chair of the school board. "At this point we felt people needed certainty heading into the next school year."
At a board meeting last Wednesday (May 13), trustees confirmed that Garibaldi Highlands, Stawamus and Valleycliffe elementary schools will close for two weeks during the Olympic games. Other elementary schools are expected to follow suit.
The elementary schools will start school on August 31, a week earlier than usual, to make up time. Dr. Rick Erickson, Sea to Sky School District superintendent, said the district's Spring Break take place on the second week off.
"Spring break was moved so students would have two weeks off during the Olympics," Erickson said.
Whistler Secondary School will be closed for three weeks and two days, while other high schools in the district will be closed for two weeks.
The decision to keep Whistler Secondary open for three weeks was made despite a presentation from the Whistler Parent Advisory Council (PAC) asking for a reduced two-week break.
"Keeping the school open for three weeks had nothing to do with the rental agreement with VANOC. We needed to give people certainty and if we followed the recommendation of the PAC, it would be the middle of July before things were confirmed," Walden said.
Discussions regarding the 2010 school calendar have been going on for years. In 2007 VANOC requested that all four high schools in the corridor be closed to house volunteers and other workforce during the event. But VANOC asked that elementary schools stay open because it recognized that working parents would be stuck in terms of childcare.
Walden said after community meetings and a survey, it was decided that all elementary schools would close for a spring break during the Olympics. Walden said it is unlikely the calendar will change significantly at this point.
Walden also confirmed that the school district will not offer programming to help out working parents while hundreds of kids are out of school during the Olympics. He said there is simply not enough money.
"Basically we don't have the money to offer extra programs nor do we have the staff time to try and organize things. We discussed a user-pay program but we felt we would have to hire someone just to get it organized," Walden said.
The plan was to use money from the rental of Whistler Secondary School to offer programs during the Olympics.
But last month Sea to Sky School District officials announced that they could not reach an agreement with VANOC officials over use of the school next Feb. Walden said the money was earmarked for programs and other expenses associated with the Games.
"The Pemberton PAC is trying to organize something for themselves and we passed a motion saying we would be willing to allow use of the school at a nominal rental cost," Walden said.
In terms of recouping rental money, there are other unsolicited offers for the school space but nothing serious at this point said Erickson
"VANOC has withdrawn and we are looking at alternatives at this point. We speculate that when we get into the fall, there may be some proposals that we have not anticipated," Erickson said.
