VANOC and the Sea to Sky School District were unable to make a deal over 2010 school use, district officials said this week.
Talks involving officials with the district and Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic organizers (VANOC) over Games-time use of Whistler Secondary School and possibly other local schools have broken off.
Nancy Edwards, secretary-treasurer for the district, confirmed Monday (April 27) that district negotiator Ted Craddock and VANOC determined on April 20 that the amount of money being offered by VANOC was insufficient to meet the district's needs.
No future negotiations are planned, Edwards said.
"VANOC is working within a fixed budget and the proposed terms for the use of Whistler Secondary School were not within that budget," Jacqui Murdoch, VANOC vice-president of services and accommodation, said in a statement issued Tuesday (April 28).
"VANOC will now pursue other options for workforce accommodation and support service VANOC is committed to involving local communities in the Games experience and is hopeful we can find a way to work with the School District that is to our mutual benefit."
Edwards said school officials had hoped the rental fees from VANOC would cover the cost of daycare programs for elementary-aged students whose parents have to work during the Games. But the amount VANOC was offering wasn't enough to accomplish that, she said.
Board chair Dave Walden said VANOC officials also offered to bring in some equipment such as computers that Games organizers would then leave behind as partial payment for use of the schools.
"But that's not what we need, and that is a bit of a problem because we're trying to get our technology standardized and they're using entirely different technology from ours," he said.
Walden said the talks with VANOC focused primarily on the use of Whistler Secondary, "although if someone requested one of the other schools, we'd look to see whether it would fit in with the time that's available."
While it's still possible that schools may accommodate other parties - Edwards said some national teams had expressed interest in using one or more of the district's four high schools during the Games - the breakdown of talks with VANOC raises questions about the board's decision last year to close schools during the Games.
Walden said that while officials "don't have anything else waiting in the wings," some inquiries from national teams and others have come in.
"The information we had from Park City [which hosted portions of the 2002 Olympics] was that the school district in the final year had lots of requests for use of school facilities, so that's a possibility," Walden said.
Whistler Secondary School is scheduled to be closed for three weeks next February, while the district's three other secondary schools, Don Ross, Howe Sound and Pemberton, are scheduled to be closed for two weeks.
The district's elementary schools are slated to be closed during the second week of the Games, Feb. 22 to 26. However, officials at Garibaldi Highlands, Stawamus and Valleycliffe elementary schools have approached the district about altering that schedule, Edwards said. The board is set to consider those requests at its May 13 meeting.
Nick Pascuzzi, principal at Garibaldi Highlands Elementary School, said Monday a recent survey of parents and staff resulted in a request for school to start a week early this fall, then have the duration of the Olympics -from Feb. 15 to 26 - off for spring break.
He said that of the 99 families who replied to the survey, 60 per cent favoured that option. Ninety-four per cent of staff favoured the same option, he said.
"There were a multitude of reasons given," Pascuzzi said. "Some parents wanted to be able to take their families to view some of the events; others felt that school attendance during the Olympic Games might not be at the same level. So there were a whole host of reasons."
Walden said that while the board will consider the requests, in his view "there would have to be strong support to make a major change at this point.
"We're getting to the point now where we do have calendars that have been approved and people are starting to make arrangements around those calendars, and in my opinion we can't just jump into major changes without strong support for both parents and staff."
