The buck stops at the roller skate at least according to a recommendation from Rick Hume, director of facilities and services at the Sea to Sky School District (District 48).
Because of a number of factors, including increased wear to the finish of gym floors and additional cleaning costs, the district's board of trustees on May 8 deemed roller skating a restricted sport in school gymnasiums.
But according to Bryan Raiser, who asked the board to allow roller skating in gyms, the decision could be a damaging one.
I thought it was weird to vote against it, he said. The reasons behind the recommendations were all assumptions. It hurts the reputation of Squamish. The assumed financial risk isn't worth the social risk by just saying no to kids without any information to back it up.
Raiser said roller skating is allowed in school gyms in Comox and pointed out that a letter from a flooring company used as research in the report was written in 2005. He said roller skate wheels are now much more friendly toward wooden gym floors and cause less damage than they did eight years ago.
Let's look for the win-win, he said. It's possible to work with the kids. I was shocked at the recommendation of 'let's not work with kids let's just ban it outright.' There is a solution out there. It does happen in other schools.
Speaking on behalf of the local youth roller derby league, he said interest in the sport in Squamish is huge.
It's just insane, he said of the sport's popularity. We would fill up two youth teams easily. I've had numerous emails and parents have said they will help out.
He added that his group would be open to the idea of helping cover any extra costs associated with roller derby being played on the gym floor and suggested a trial run at a local school to see how the floor holds up.
Why couldn't we do it in a test gym? he said. We could address any concerns from there. I haven't seen anything that would warrant a show stopper but the show has been stopped.
Raiser said he's optimistic that something can be worked out and that youth roller derby will come to Squamish.
I'm going to go in front of the board and say my piece, he said, pointing out that two Squamish trustees were not present at the meeting. I'm looking forward to bringing forward information that all the trustees can look at going forward. Let's make decisions based on accurate information.
The only thing I want to do is teach eight-year-old girls and boys how to roller skate. Let's try to find a solution here that works for everyone.
Hume did not respond to The Chief's request for an interview before press time. The next school board meeting is scheduled on June 12.
