Sea to Sky School District trustees last week narrowly rejected a proposal to allow Howe Sound Secondary School (HSSS) students to volunteer to help with an upcoming fundraising event that will include the serving of alcohol.
At Wednesday's (Feb. 9) regular board meeting, Squamish Trustee Andrea Beaubien brought forward a request from the HSSS Dry Grad Committee that students be allowed to work at the coat check and on organization of the Feb. 26 Trivia Night event at the school.
The adults-only event is to include the serving of alcohol. Under district policy, students are not allowed to be part of events at which alcohol is served.
Beaubien argued in favour of granting the exemption, saying that students wouldn't be involving in serving alcohol. She added, "I would like to think that this event is going to model responsible drinking."
Trustee Laura Godfrey agreed. In addition to the fact that a Safe Ride Home program is to be offered, "I don't think we're doing our students any service by pretending it [drinking] doesn't happen," Godfrey said.
Whistler Trustee Christine Buttkus, though, voiced concerns about the potential for adverse role modelling and for liability issues to arise if something unforeseen were to happen.
Pemberton Trustee Dave Walden agreed with Buttkus, saying he was concerned about setting a precedent for similar requests that might arise in the future.
"Do we really need to have alcohol at an event like this? I don't want to be a stick in the mud, but" Walden said.
In the end, the board voted 4-3 to reject the proposed exemption with Godfrey, Beaubien and Whistler Trustee Chris Vernon-Jarvis voting in favour.
French immersion numbers strong
The recent call for enrolment for Grade 5 French immersion to be offered at Squamish Elementary resulted in 61 students signing up. That, despite earlier concerns that the numbers might wane in response to the board's decision to move Grades 5 and 6 French immersion students from the more centrally located Mamquam Elementary starting this fall.
"It's been very well received. The student and parent meetings at the schools have been quite successful," district Superintendent Dr. Rick Erickson said.
Meanwhile, John Hetherington, the district's secretary-treasurer, reported that the district had received a letter from the Brackendale Elementary School Parent Advisory Council concerning 2011-'12 French immersion transportation options.
The PAC asked the district to look into the possibility of having a school bus transport students from the Brackendale, Garibaldi Highlands and Mamquam service areas to Squamish Elementary "or failing that, talking to the municipality with regard to synchronizing the public [Squamish Transit] bus schedules with school schedules," Hetherington said.
District staff plan to explore those options and present them to the board at its March meeting, he said.
