Fewer school days owing to the teachers' strike still adds up to a balanced semestered year for high school students in School District 43 thanks to some creative juggling and a rescheduling of provincial exams.
On Tuesday, the board of education was informed that exams will be held Feb. 2 to 5, a week later than usual to balance the two semesters. As a result, the current semester will be 84 days long and semester two will be 83 days.
The teachers' dispute cut 14 school days out of the current semester.
Other schoolnews:
SCHOOL UPGRADES
Summer was a good time to upgrade schools and School District 43 took advantage of the situation, spending more than $3.6 million on projects to replace roofs and make buildings more energy efficient.
Money from the province's annual facilities grant paid for 40 flooring upgrades, including refinishing 17 gym floors, the board of education was told Tuesday.
Among the larger projects are:
$1.5 million in roofing work at Cedar Drive, Hazel Trembath, Central, Meadowbrook, Parkland and Pleasantside elementary schools as well as at Dr. Charles Best secondary;
$1.1 million in boiler upgrades at Heritage Mountain secondary and Mountain Meadows, Panorama, Pinetree Way and Riverview Park elementary schools;
window replacements totalling $800,000 at Seaview, Cape Horn and Porter Street elementary schools;
and lighting upgrades totalling $200,000 at Central, Glenayre, Mary Hill, Birchland, Eagle Ridge, Miller Park and Pleasantside elementary schools plus Kwayhquitlum and Hillcrest middle schools.
Many of the more expensive upgrades were completed to promote sustainability and to help reduce future operating costs.
