2007-8 Kits PAC School Renewal - Seismic
Mitigation Committee (February through June)
First
2008-9 meeting date in September of the Kits PAC School Renewal -
Seismic Mitigation Committee yet to be set.
Draft Minutes
of the
Kits
PAC School Renewal - Seismic Mitigation Committee June 23, 2008
meeting.
Kits PAC
School Renewal - Seismic Mitigation Committee next meeting June
23, 2008 at 6 pm, Kitsilano 3rd floor staff room.
Minutes
of the
Kits PAC School Renewal - Seismic Mitigation Committee April 16, 2008
meeting yet to be posted.
From
Kits PAC
e-news June 20, 2008:
| School Renewal - Seismic Mitigation Committee News |
 |
There will be a committee meeting on Monday, June 23 at 6 p.m.
in the staff room. All are welcome to attend.
There is a panel
discussion on heritage schools and the seismic mitigation program in
Vancouver at the Vancouver Museum this evening, June 19, 2008 from 7
to 9:30 pm. Go to the Heritage Vancouver web site for details. http://www.heritagevancouver.org
Straight - June
12, 2008 - Ministry's Seismic Progress Slow Going
http://www.straight.com/article-149325/seismic-progress-slow-going
The following canada.com story from The Vancouver Sun, Westcoast News,
June 14, 2008:
"Parents' lobbying saves school from closure"
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=0a58defd-106d-41a3-8371-1c7b077892fa&k=91880
relates to Kitsilano Secondary in that the Q E Annex K-3 French
immersion program feeds the Jules Quesnel 4-7 FI program and
subsequently the Kitsilano 8-12 FI program.
Also, the article has comments about influences on the VSB seismic
upgrade process.
From
Kits PAC
e-news June 13, 2008:
| School Renewal - Seismic Mitigation News |
|
The principal of Vancouver Technical Secondary School, Dave
Derpak, will lead a tour of his school for the Kits community on Tuesday,
June 17 at 4:30 p.m. Van Tech is at 2600 East Broadway.
Meet inside the main entrance. We thank Mr. Derpak for his kind and
generous offer!
Please note that the committee meeting originally scheduled at this
date and time will be postponed to a later date. Keep checking the PAC
E-news for updates!
From
Kits PAC
e-news June 6, 2008:
| School Renewal - Seismic Mitigation News |
|
There will be a meeting of the School Renewal - Seismic
Mitigation Committee on Tuesday, June 17 at 4:30 p.m. in the
Staff Room. (see Kits PAC e-news Jun. 13, 2008 re postponement) All
parents are welcome to attend.
On May 28, the PAC Executive sent a letter to Premier Gordon Campbell
to express concern at the slow rate of progress on three critical
issues: a lack of funding for appropriate seismic upgrading that also
allows for complete school renewal, be it renovation and/or rebuilding;
a lack of recognition and consideration of heritage value for historic
schools; and the absence of an integrated planning process, as per the
motion at the PAG AGM on May 20.
The letter can be found on the Kitsilano website under School Renewal -
Seismic Mitigation Committee at http://members.shaw.ca/QPAC/K-PAC-
Seismic-Safety.html
Message From:
James Burton
Date: May
29, 2008
To:
Kits PAC SRSM Committee
Subject: Moving forward
Following
on comments at the informal
discussion about the
seismic mitigation process at Kits, following the Magee tour:
The Committee
might
prepare for a VSB Open House (about what has been learned) in late
September/early October by examining various issues around various
renewal options. Some of the issues to examine listed below.
Integrated
planning process: Larry
Integrating
other institutional stakeholders (eg Parks Board): Jacqueline
Teacher input:
Julie Bond
Student input:
Alex?
(Lesley can help)
Repurposing
parts of the old building: Tracy
Heritage
Retention options: Andrew
New Building
options : Diane
General Program
requirements: James with Alex?
Auditorium:
Julie Bond
Sports
Facilities: ?
Community
Associations: Gwyneth?
Any thoughts on
this or issues to add, please contact James (see start of this web log
for contact info)
Reminder: Friends
of Kits lists (from Auditorium and Gym Handouts project): Lesley
May
27, 2008
following the Magee tour, there was an informal discussion about the
seismic mitigation process at Kits. There was a suggestion that the VSB
open house could present what has been learned as opposed to presenting
a plan for endorsement. A Kits PAC SRSM Committee member is going to
investigate the possibility of the VSB holding such an open house in
June or September.
From: Alex Grant
[mailto:agrant@vsb.bc.ca]
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2008
12:28
PM
To: Kits PAC SRSM
Committee
Subject: RE: Kits PAC
SRSM Comm.
cost question
From the final Feasibility
report and Due Diligence Review report, the cost of a full seismic
upgrade was
estimated at $81 million (plus $7 million for upgrades not covered by
the
seismic program). The 3 new construction
options ranged from $60 to $65 million.
All of these estimates presume a summer 2009 construction start.
Alex
Alex
Grant
Principal
Kitsilano Secondary School
From: Kits PAC SRSM Committee
member
Sent: May 27, 2008 9:55
AM
To: Kits PAC SRSM
COmmittee
Subject: Kits PAC SRSM
Comm. cost
question
Hi, just wondering how
current (ie. were the latest
engineering improvements for seismic upgrading taken into
consideration)
are the costs presented per the following from the Kits PAC SRSM Comm.
Web log?
“The Kits
Principal,
Alex Grant, met with the Kits PAC School Renewal Committee Dec. 20,
2007.
The VSB
estimated start
of construction at this time on the Kits seismic project is June
2009 or
January 2010 depending on options chosen.
Kits PAC
School Renewal -
Seismic Mitigation Report Back 2007 Dec 20
http://members.shaw.ca/YHT99/Kits-PAC-School-Renewal-Seismic-Mitigation-2007-Dec-20.pdf
(Includes
seismic
mitigation options and time frame)”
That
report shows the
cost of fully seismically upgrading the old building to be $85 million
and the
cost of a new building on a new site to be $64 million (and it seems
both would
not provide an auditorium and not provide adequate gym space – more
things general
PAC can discuss: the possibility of lobbying government to fully
provide/fund
these).
| CHART
COMPARING SEATTLE AND VANCOUVER PROGRESS ON SEISMIC UPGRADING OF
SCHOOLS, prepared by FSSS volunteer T. Monk |
FSSS
did an FOI to
BC Building corp several years ago
to get some idea of how
risk in school buildings compared to risk in other
provincially held
infrastructure.
- 30% of schools
in the province were rated as high risk
-
2% of non-educational provincial buildings
assessed were considered at high
risk,
(a
rough comparison)
Last
year (2007) - a commitment was made to fast track an upgrade of the legislature.
As FSSS has often pointed out, prisons were also upgraded, and heritage
retained in many cases when this was done . . . even the
liquor branch
has been upgraded, along with bridges, tunnels, dams etc . . . and
in
each case . . no one has
had to ask . .
From
FSSS volunteer T. Monk |
Source: NYT (5/25/08):
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/world/asia/25schools.html
Grief
in the Rubble
Chinese
Are Left to Ask Why Schools Crumbled
By
JIM YARDLEY
|
Ministry of Education
(MOE) Press Release re Seismic 2008 May 23
From
Kits PAC
e-news May 23, 2008:
| School Renewal - Seismic Mitigation Committee News |
|
Thanks to the many parents who turned out for the Kits tour with
Principal Alex Grant this past Tuesday evening.
The companion tour at Magee Secondary will take place Tuesday,
May 27 at 6:00 p.m. Meet in the atrium (inside the main
entrance). Magee is at 6360 Maple Street. This tour will
give the Kitsilano community an idea of the advantages and challenges
of a new school
At the May 20, 2008 Kits PAC AGM, the following items concerning
the Kits PAC School Renewal - Seismic Mitigation Committee were
agreed:
- that efforts will continue to have the meeting with the Premier
happen in June when a general PAC meeting can be called, but if
that does not happen and there is an opportunity during the summer break for the
Committee to meet the
Premier, that it is in the best interest of PAC to take that
opportunity and the Committee will judge as usual what can be
accomplished between PAC general meetings.
- to write the VSB and Province advocating for a speedier process while
respecting the concerns presented in previous letters from Kits
PAC.
- to write the City of Vancouver about ideas for the next election that
some of the heritage concerns and such are civic as opposed to
provincial ministry of education issues and explore having a vote on
raising a special tax to cover the costs of addressing those kinds of
costs in school seismic upgrading.
- further to T. Monk's meeting with a UBC engineering Professor earlier
on the same day as this PAC meeting, the KitsPAC SRSM Committee to put
together a draft list of questions for the Kitsilano project consultant
engineers.
Note: at this meeting, the teacher rep. voiced a preference for a new
school building due to concerns about the health of students, teachers
and all having to work in the old school while i.e.. dust creating
construction is on going. During the tour of Kits conducted before this
meeting, it was noted that a teacher is leaving due to the shop space
not being a good place to teach or learn, one reason given
was there are no windows to allow natural light.
2008
May 20
T. Monk, volunteer on both Families for School
Seismic Safety (FSSS) and Kits PAC School Renewal - Seismic Mitigation
Committee (KitsPAC SRSMC) met with Carlos Ventura the
UBC Prof who she has been
working with for years on this issue and who was at
Think Schools and was
also one of
the engineers who has contributed to the UN and OECD`s work on
the school seismic issue globally . Before the meeting, T. Monk
canvassed the KitsPAC SRSM Committee for questions to bring to the
meeting..
Questions
received were:
Awhile
back when seismically upgrading the old school was compared to building
a new school on a new site –
it
seemed the comments were that –
seismic upgrading was
significantly more expensive –
and while both a
seismically upgraded building and a new building would
hopefully reduce injury to occupants in the event of an earthquake
(forgetting about how strong), only the new building would likely be
structurally sound enough to use after an earthquake.
Interested in an
opinion, or referral to sources of information on:
- has
the cost of seismically upgrading come down significantly?
-
are a seismically upgraded building and a new
building equal in their abilities to protect against injury in an
earthquake (or does one manage up to a larger strength of earthquake
better than the other)?
-
Have there been improvements for seismically
upgraded buildings to be useable after an earthquake?
From Kits PAC
e-news May 19, 2008:
| Gordon Campbell Response to Kits Letter |
|
On April 28th, the committee sent a letter (see http://members.shaw.ca/QPAC/K-PAC-
Seismic-Safety.html) to Premier Gordon Campbell reiterating concern
over three critical issues: lack of funding; lack of consideration of
heritage value; and the absence of an integrated planning process. The
letter also invited Gordon Campbell, our MLA, to a meeting at Kits to
discuss the implementation of the Seismic Mitigation Program.
The constituency office contacted James Burton to make arrangements for
a possible meeting at Kits in June.
Currently, the Seismic Mitigation process in Vancouver is on hold,
pending a review of the issues by the Premier.
From Kits PAC
e-news May 19, 2008:
| School Renewal - Seismic Mitigation Committee News |
|
Walkabout, Tuesday, May 20, 6 - 7 p.m. Meet at the front steps.
Please join the Committee on a tour of Kitsilano lead by Principal Alex
Grant, with heritage commentary by James Burton. The tour will give us
a visual understanding of the school's educational spaces, their
strengths and challenges for current and future educational programs. A
companion tour of Magee Secondary is being arranged for the following
week, details to follow.
Plans are being
made for a Kits parents tour of Kits on May 20th at 6 pm (prior to the
Kits PAC AGM
at 7:30 pm) and a tour of Magee May 27th, 6 pm, meet at the atrium.
Alex
Grant, Kits Principal has kindly offered to lead the tours. There
has been a suggestion to have a parent volunteer photographer along to
make a photographic record of the tour. There have been
suggestions to have other interest groups like Kits engineers, some
students and some teachers
along, too. A decision was made that more in-depth or specifically
focussed tours or investigations can be organized at a later date, and
those other interest groups can be included/accomodated then.
The Kits Principal will comment on the interior spaces of each
building and their adequacy in service of delivering the educational
programs we have now.
The Kits PAC School Renewal - Seismic Mitigation Committee Chair will
provide insight into the heritage value of the exterior of Kits.
Message 2008
May 17 from T. Monk, volunteer on both Families for School
Seismic Safety (FSSS) and Kits PAC School Renewal - Seismic Mitigation
Committee (KitsPAC SRSMC)
Message in Kits PAC e-mail news May 9, 2008
Important
message about seismic issues and school renewal
As a Kitsilano
parent/guardian it is important you know that plans for Seismic
upgrading or a new school under consideration for Kitsilano affect
facilities at the school like the auditorium and gymnasiums. These
facilities play very important roles in our students' education
and in our community. Kitsilano Parent Advisory Council (Kits PAC) is
concerned these essential assets and others may be at risk in the
process of school renewal.
A Kits PAC
Committee is monitoring this issue. You can follow developments by
going to the school web site http://kitsilano.vsb.bc.ca
and clicking on 'Kits PAC School Renewal Seismic Mitigation
Committee' in the upper right hand area.
There will be a
discussion on the committee's work at our May 20th AGM and you are
encouraged to attend.
James Burton,
Kits PAC Chair
May 9, 2008 the Kits
PAC School Renewal - Seismic Mitigation Committee Chair (and Kits PAC
Chair), James Burton, reported that he received an email from Jessica
O'Connor, Mr Campbell's assistant at his constituency office, regarding
the Kits PAC 2008 Apr 2008 letter to the Premier. She requested a
brief phone conversation to explore the content of the letter.
James did have that phone conversation and work is ongoing regards the
letter, including the possibility of a meeting. Also from that phone
conversation, the information that:
- the Standing Committee is not a committee that is constantly meeting
and dealing with issues; they are not active at this time. They
meet only when an issue is referred to them.
2008 Apr 28
letter to Premier re more funds and invite
- note, related 2007
April 7 FSSS letter, see
below in this log.
- note, there was a discussion amongst the Kits PAC School Renewal -
Seismic Mitigation Committee volunteers about also copying this letter
to i.e.. Think Schools and FSSS. The following suggestion was agreed to:
I've reflected a bit on the cc list today and have come up with this
possible solution: the primary purpose of this letter is to request a
meeting at Kits about Kits with Gordon Campbell; the second is our
trial balloon: the possibility of having the Standing Committee on
Education hold hearings on the topic. So, given that perspective, maybe
the cc list on this letter should be limited to the MofEd and the VSB.
We have already planned a second letter specifically on the Standing
Committee on Education idea; in that letter the cc list should include
all the other stakeholders and partners as we want to include them from
the get-go. How about that for a solution?
2008 APR
26
Notes:
Have heard, but
not confirmed that:
- the BC
government Ministry of Education is funding studies of the
provincial government with UBC Engineering aiming to make seismic
upgrading of existing buildings less expensive.
- the BC
government and the BC professional engineers governing body are
working on signing an agreement to set up a technical review board for
seismic upgrading cases where the cost estimates appear to be possibly
larger than necessary.
2008 APR Kits PAC
School Renewal Committee (includes seismic) Auditorium and Gymnasium
Handouts and Friends of Kits List Projects
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 08:07:00 -0700
To: Committee
Subject: RE: Kits PAC School Renewal Committee (includes
Seismic) - Auditorium project
April 2008 (and gym info)
Regarding
the status of an auditorium in current
Ministry construction standards:
-
Auditoriums
are not mentioned, either in the Area
Standards or the School Design Aid Sheet for Secondary Schools;
therefore, an auditorium is not mandated as part of the “core” modules
nor is
one anticipated to be included in the “elective” modules (but one is
not
specifically prohibited).
-
The Design
Aid Sheet does include “Multi-purpose”
space, which, for a school of 1500 is calculated to be 320 square
metres.
-
Kitsilano’s
Auditorium measures 594.7 square metres.
-
My preliminary
calculations of the space
required for our current school program (1574 students) using the Area
Standards for a school of 1500 would permit all of the necessary
classrooms and
associated facilities (including the Multipurpose space which would
incorporate
cafeteria functions) to be replaced and still leave 725 square metres
for use
to augment those spaces or, for example, to replace the auditorium.
Important
notes:
o
this
calculation does include additional science lab
space and reconfiguring some of our elective spaces to reflect current
usage,
but it does not include any significant allowance for
reconceptualising
our educational program to reflect current or anticipated trends and
developments in curriculum and instruction.
o
this
calculation does not include any
additional space for our PE and Athletics programs for which our
current
facilities are clearly inadequate.
o
contrary to
common assumptions, most of our current
classrooms are smaller than the standards for new construction so
instructional
space would actually be larger in a new school; however, the overall
school
size would be smaller, mainly due to less space for technical studies
(woodwork, metalwork, etc.), corridors, stairs, storage, and mechanical
(boiler
room, electrical, ventilation, etc.).
Alex
Grant
Principal
Kitsilano
Secondary School
See notes about
the auditorium at Magee and
about gym space, below in this
log.
At the PAC
meeting 2008 Apr 16 at 7pm following the Renewal committee
meeting, there
was agreement
to have two items on the next PAC meeting agenda :
1. the name of the committee, as there have been suggestions including
the word seismic would be helpful.
2. the work of the committee as there have been suggestions that
engaging the general PAC in this discussion is important and
helpful at this point
Also at the PAC
meeting following the Renewal committee meeting, there
was a review of standard PAC communications procedures. In particular
there was a reminder that letters that have the agreement of a
committee and are deemed not to need formal agreement from the General
PAC, still need the agreement of the PAC Executive Committee. In part,
agreement from the PAC Exec ensures the PAC Exec is aware of all
communications going out.
Also at the PAC
meeting following the Renewal committee meeting, there
was agreement to have a message from the PAC Chair on the Kits PAC
e-mail prior to the May 2008 AGM with a notice about school renewal -
seismic mitigation.
The
Principal's Report at this PAC meeting included a brief report on the
April 9, 2008 School Growth Planning Day with the teachers. The teacher
session on seismic issues was mentioned.
Following the
mention of the teacher session on seismic issues, there was a
suggestion from parents at this PAC General meeting that,
thinking of the
parent and teacher perspectives on seismic issues having some
differences, consulting students would provide another important
perspective,
and while well
aware that there are already too many demands on teachers to fit things
in to their classes,
it would be good
to explore the possibility of having a student session on seismic
issues, and that this might be accomplished by :
- having every
social studies class in the school have a session where the students
prepared large post it type sticky notes with seismic concerns
(the teachers at the School Growth Planning Day seismic issues session
used large post it type sticky notes).
OR
- having every
English class in the school prepare a one page summary with
seismic concerns.
One thought was
either of the above methods would reduce the feedback from the i.e..
1400 students to a lesser number of classes.
Kits PAC
School Renewal (Seismic) Committee meeting 2008 Apr 16 at 6pm.
A suggestion from the meeting, that School Renewal Committee volunteers
could man a table at the start and intermission of the upcoming Drama
Department productions - the table could have a simple handout about
the
business of school auditoriums and seismic upgrading (and raise
awareness of the importance of auditoriums, from school assemblies to
drama productions). Also at this table, implement the previously
discussed 'Friends of Kits' list sign
up. The list is an effort
to help keep friends (Kits parents/guardians and other community
members) informed of renewal/seismic developments and aware
when support is needed.
There was agreement at the meeting to draft two possible letters, to
the
Premier and to a Provincial legislative committee called (not
sure of the name)
Education Standing Committee (not part of the Ministry of
Education) about the need for better funding. The letter to the
Premier to include an invitation to meet at the school.
April 9, 2008 Kitsilano
School
Growth Planning Day, 12 PAC volunteers attended morning session,
with
staff, administrators of Kits.
The afternoon session topic concerned teachers planning for teaching
through the seismic upgrade progress and their suggestions for seismic
upgrading school renewal. The PAC School Renewal Committee were invited
to attend this session.
The Kits Principal, in introducing this session topic, let the teachers
know the April 6, 2008 Think City, Think Schools event had been good.
Of interest among the many suggestions from teachers for seismic
upgrading school renewal, a common one that had not been common in
previous PAC suggestions for seismic upgrading school renewal:
- that the school cafeteria teachers' area be re-established (and that
at the same time the quality of food and service in the cafeteria be
improved). The morning session had been about teachers improving
their professional skills by observing each other's classes and other
means of networking. The teachers observed that the loss of the
teachers area in the cafeteria has removed a valuable opportunity to
network. Regards teacher morale, it is not helpful that they now tend
to spend lunch in isolation in their classrooms. The teachers observed
that the staff room on the third floor, while having a lovely view,
does not seem like a place to relax (and that would facilitate
networking), but rather a work room with photocopy stations and
computer
stations.
Another example of a teachers' suggestion, different from previous PAC
suggestions, was arranging classrooms by department around a kind of
hub storage and service area for the department.
The Kitsilano
Secondary community was fortunate to have many attend this event. There
were some Kits parents, Kits PAC Executive, Kits teachers and the
Kits Principal.
Think City, Think
Schools Invite for 2008 Apr 6
from the Think City Organization
http://www.thinkcity.ca
A Kits parent who attended this event observed there were Kits
engineers attending and they brought a different perspective to the
issue than parents.
Vancouver Courier article Apr. 4, 2008
Seattle schools offer seismic advice
Naoibh O'Connor, Vancouver Courier
Published: Friday, April 04, 2008
It's not cheap, but
preserving historic schools is worth it. That's according to Don
Gillmore, the "building excellence" program manager for the Seattle
School Board...
(The 'landmark '
conference is Think City, Think Schools - April 6, 2008)
http://www.canada.com/vancouvercourier/news/story.html?id=3e2f7abf-6015-4b71-869d-a3cf8106496e&k=57325
2007-8 Related
to the
seeming lack of funding for seismic upgrading to allow for adequate
gymnasium and auditorium facilities at Kits and covered outdoor
play area and after school care at Gordon, see
Kits PAC VSB
Budget and Advocating For Our Schools.
April 4,
2008 Kits
PAC School
Renewal Committee letter
to the BC Minister of Education.
DRAFT Meeting
Minutes Kits PAC School Renewal (Seismic) Committee 2 APR
2008
Kits PAC School
Renewal committee meeting held April 2, 2008.
Noted that the
committee will send a letter to the
BC Minister of Education.
Noted that an
invitation will be sent to Kits student council inviting student
representatives to attend this PAC committee's meetings for the purpose
of informing students about the process and obtaining student
perspective on matters..
Regards student representation at this PAC Committee's meetings, note
that the Principal and two faculty (teachers) are also attending,
.Karen Coflin being one of them.
March
12, 2008 letter from Kits PAC School Renewal Committee to BC Premier
DRAFT Meeting
Minutes Kits PAC School Renewal (Seismic) Committee 10 MAR
2008
The Heritage
Statement of Significance for Kitsilano that was developed
as part of the Heritage report for Vancouver schools.
From the Kits
Principal Mar. 9, 2008:
Much of the
commentary concerns the 1958 additions which include the south portion
of the west wing of the school, the gymnasium and change rooms areas,
and approximately 1/4 of the tech wing. Unless I have misread
this document, the relatively high Heritage ranking for Kitsilano is
based primarily upon the significance of these parts of the school.
From Kits PAC e
news 2008 Mar 2
An independent study commissioned by the VSB and the City of
Vancouver gives Kitsilano Secondary a perfect score of 25
out of 25 for its heritage value. The "Commonwealth Report" studied
and ranked 115 schools in the Vancouver district and rated their
historic value based on the following four criteria:
Aesthetic & Functional Values (10)
Educational Values (5)
Historical Values (5)
Social Values (5)
Total (25)
Kitsilano was one out of only four schools to receive the maximum
score. A maximum score in any of the categories represents a "Superior"
rating in the report.
To read the full report, click on the following link:
http://www.vsb.bc.ca/NR/rdon
lyres/11293CC6-FDF2-49D5-AA67-
97F94DCD23E3/0/VancouverSchoolsHeritageValueFi nalReportJune2007.pdf
|
Kits PAC School Renewal - Seismic Mitigation Committee note re the
above Kits PAC e-news 2008 Mar 2 message (about heritage info from the
Kits Principal):
Kitsilano's assessment
form produced as part of the Commonwealth Report . It is
not a Statement of Significance (SoS), a document that would explicitly
describe the heritage value of the school, but at least it gives some
background about the building and its relative value as a heritage
resource (superior).
The City is requesting that the VSB commission the writing of an SoS
for Kits. Perhaps it will be done for the Fall.
Note: the assessment form says includes Programme Cadre - however this
is moving from Kits September 2008.
Note: re the assessment form's section "C.3 Persons, Events, Patterns"
Louis Armstrong (American jazz soloist) performed at Kits. This and
other information of heritage interest is in the section titled
'History; in the Kitsilano Student agenda books.
Contact at COV: L. Walton
|
Feb. 27, 2008 the 'School
Renewal Committee' received a copy of the Preliminary Report Feb. 14,
2008 Due Diligence Review (DDR) Proposed Seismic Mitigation
and a copy of the Final Draft Jan. 4, 2008 Feasibility Study - Stage 1,
Options for the Seismic Upgrade of Kitsilano Secondary. The copy has
been put on the PAC shelf in the Kits Secondary School library.
The Vancouver
School Board Trustees sent a letter
20 February 2008 to the BC Ministry
of Education regarding the due-diligence process for the Ministry of
Education’s Seismic Mitigation Program. The letter addresses three main
areas of concern: firstly, space standards and the comparative cost
method used to determine replacement costs versus upgrade costs;
secondly, facility area standards as they relate to community uses; and
thirdly, heritage value as documented in the City of Vancouver Heritage
Registry and the Commonwealth Report on the City of Vancouver Schools.
The School
Renewal Committee work on Seismic Safety issues was discussed at the
Feb. 20, 2008 Kits PAC meeting.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=cfa97d46-87f0-4eaf-8da8-a4ffe1561db6
Link for:
Parents
fear old schools will fall
Knocking them down cheaper than upgrades
Janet Steffenhagen, Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, February 05, 2008
VANCOUVER - Parents
are demanding a halt to seismic work on schools, saying ill-conceived
plans could result in dozens of old buildings being knocked down and
replaced with smaller, less-useful facilities.
They plan to appeal
to school trustees tonight to stop the work and hold public hearings,
even though that would leave their children in unsafe buildings even
longer. ...
The article
quotes the General Gordon PAC Chair
Notice received Feb. 1, 2008:
Feb. 1, 2008 VSB
reply to Kits PAC Exec comments to VSB re Commonwealth Report
2007-8
Kits PAC School Renewal - Seismic
Mitigation Committee (September through January)
K-PAC
Seismic Safety 2006-7 and before
Kits
PAC Special Interest
Groups