Policy/Post-Board Meeting Update

At the May 28, 2013 North Vancouver School Board public meeting, the Board approved a policy called “Outdoor Learning Spaces” that, while opening the door to some school ground enhancements proposals, unfortunately does not provide any commitment to building covered areas in future builds (when they can be funded by the BC Ministry of Education within the capital build budget) nor any commitment to help build and fund covered areas for the schools that had their covered areas taken away. More details about policy and the board meeting at end of this post.

We’d like to point out that we feel that there are some school board trustees trying to help save covered areas (and thank you to those members!) and then we have some North Vancouver School District staff and board members who will not commit to including covered areas in our schools. 

We encourage everyone to continue to write letters! Your letters still can make a difference! We as a committee have tirelessly worked to lay the groundwork, and now we are encouraging everyone to carry this torch and do whatever you can to help saved covered areas in North Vancouver!

Clarification of precipitation stats

The Ministry of Education will fund covered areas “if a district that has annual precipitation exceeding 2000mm” or has “exceptional local conditions which create problems best solved by a covered play area”.  North Vancouver has an average rainfall of 2537mm, well above the 2000mm threshold. The precipitations statistics that this Covered Area Committee reference, are from the leading credible source, Environment Canada, "Canadian Climate Normals or Averages 1971-2000" .

The Board Chair stated that they looked up the North Vancouver precipitation stats and came up with an average of 1889 mm, just 111mm under 2000; she did not reference the source, but said it was from the year 1990. We have not been able find any source with precipitations stats that low <Update: they have since reported that the source was “Supplement to the National Building Code of Canada 1990, published by the National Research Council Canada. However we have requested a web-link or hard copy to this information and it has not been produced.>  The Area Standards states that "the climatic data shall be derived from an approved official source such as the supplement to the National Building Code". The Building Code references Environment Canada data. Even the Ministry of Education said that the decision to build covered areas in North Vancouver rests with the NVSD. (see Highlands info below).

The Ministry of Education created a guideline for covered play areas in high precipitation climates. North Vancouver school buildings have included covered areas in the past. Children deserve shelter options when they live in a rain forest.

Highlands & other schools that have had their covered areas taken away 

Highlands’s parents have spent countless hours and energy trying to get covered areas for the students and to save covered areas in North Vancouver schools (see "Highland's Story"). We are so disappointed to report that Highlands’s students are left with no resolution.  Parents asked for covered areas during the Highlands design phase, Highlands qualified for funding from the Ministry going by accurate precipitation information, but the North Vancouver School District didn’t build any covered areas and the school build came in $700,000 under budget. They put in extensive concrete planters, but they didn’t include covered play areas. The NVSD makes no apologies for this decision not to build covered areas, and they offer no commitment to rectifying the problem. The children will continue pay the price for this negatively impactful decision.

The Residents Association also raised concerns about the lack of covered areas. Parents were told they could add them later, and after years of fighting just finally got approval (albeit not against a school wall as desired, and at a unaffordable, after-the-build price tag of $150,000). Read Residents Association letter here.

In 2011, The Ministry of Education informed Highlands that the decision to build covered areas rests with the North Vancouver School District and the encouraged us to pursue the issue with them. Read letter from the Ministry.

The NVSD previously approved a motion to develop a multi-stakeholder funding plan to fund a covered area for Highlands Elementary; we feel that they have not fulfilled this. The NVSD, being one of the major stakeholders in their schools are not offering any funding; all they did was provide a list of possible grants for Highlands to look into; most were either outdated or inapplicable and the amounts so small that it would take many years to raise $150,000. It would also be a challenge to garner the support for raising this large amount of many as many feel that it should be funded within a school's build. The cost would have been much less if built during the school build.

In recent years Lynn Valley School and Westview also underwent new builds and parents have been asking for covered areas for those schools too.  The NVSD has dismantled covered areas in some existing schools as well. Those students are all paying the price of these decisions too.

Policy Details Cont.

A policy is meant to be a clear guideline, a benchmark for future decisions and actions; and it remains unclear as to what will be done concerning covered areas. We were really hoping for commitments to come out of this policy.

They also did something new with this policy (and plan to apply it to all future policies going forward), they separated the “Administrative Procedures” which guide the policy into the “action plan” phase.  These procedures will be completed in September or October. We don’t know how this will affect covered areas for all.  

Revision: the official approved motion wording is as follows: that the Board of Education approve Proposed New Policy 806: Outdoor Learning Spaces, as attached to this Administrative Memorandum of May 28, 2013  <pages 63-65>, and further that the Board develop a policy for the construction of new capital projects that addresses possible building features.

We also requested more advocacy from them on behalf of local parents and community members so we don’t have a repeat of what happen with Highlands. We want much more public info and participation when it comes to building a new local school. These buildings have to suit students for generations so we need to make sure they suit the needs of the students and our climate.

Click to view the North Vancouver School Board Meeting Minutes

FYI: the following action points were clarified within the board meeting minutes:

 “During discussion and in response to Trustees’ questions, the following points were clarified: advocacy for capital project supplemental funding was discussed at a recent meeting of the Presidents’ Council, and a letter to the Minister is being drafted as well as a request for the Ministry to review rainfall rates for a district where there is variance in precipitation rates; the process and timing in developing the Administrative Procedures where the sub-committee will meet from June to September with recommendations brought to the Policy Review Committee in late September or early October; and consideration of a more formalized capital planning process in the Fall.”

New Covered Area Policy has NO commitment to build or fund covered areas! Public Board Meeting this Tuesday May 28 - 7PM

The North Vancouver School Board has drafted their policy on covered play areas (see below) and will be discussing and voting to approve it this Tuesday. Come and let the board know that we want their commitment to build covered areas.

Public Board Meeting - Tuesday May 28th - 7pm sharp

Starting with public comment period (anyone's welcome to speak!)

NVSD office/Education Services Centre

2121 Lonsdale Avenue Mountain View Room – Fifth Floor

Covered Area Policy is on page 63-65 (they renamed it Outdoor Learning Spaces): http://www.nvsd44.bc.ca/en/Trustees/~/media/PDF_uploads/BoardMeetings/2012_13/BoardAgendaPkg20130528.ashx

We've reviewed the policy and are extremely disappointed with the outcome. While in theory the board mentions support of covered areas (among may other non-related items they decided to add to the policy), there is still absolutely NO commitment to fund or build covered play areas in the future. They also state that it is now the school's (aka parent's) responsibility to pay for any covered areas at existing schools. Even the school's who've had their covered areas dismantled without public input!

Instead of doing the logical thing and designing and building schools that work for our rainforest climate, it seems that the board has decided that covered areas aren't very important and have simply labeled them as an extra "nice-to-haves" so they don't have to fund or include them.  

The kids are the ones that are left out in the pouring rain!

In the News

The covered area issue appeared in today’s North Shore News: http://www.nsnews.com/news/Open+playgrounds+anger+parents/8429294/story.html 

The Covered Area Committee would like to clarify a few points raised in the article:

The BC Ministry of Education’s Area Standards state that a covered area can be built in schools with annual precipitation levels above 2000mm (North Vancouver surpasses that), so covered areas can be built within the school build capital budget.

There have been many expenditures made by the North Vancouver School District (NVSD) that do not fall directly under "focusing on seismically safe schools.” Note: we are not faulting any of the expenditures whatsoever, we are just pointing out that while seismic upgrades are a very important focus; it has not been the NVSD’s only focus. Seismic upgrades and building schools that meet the children’s needs are not mutually exclusive; both can be accomplished.

In the case of the new Highlands school building, extensive concrete planters were built, but not covered play areas. Many see the planters as the “nice to haves” and covered areas as an integral part of a school build, given North Vancouver’s rainforest climate.

The cost to build a shelter after a school build is significant and would be much less if built during the school build. A policy is needed to ensure that covered areas are included in all future builds. Additionally a policy needs to be created to help the schools that had their covered areas taken away.

Write now to make a difference for all North Vancouver children!

A new policy regarding covered play areas is being written by the North Vancouver School District right now. Today's decisions will effect generations of kids. It's time to act! 

Provide your input while the policy is being reviewed. We’ve made it quick and easy to send a letter to the North Vancouver School District, MLAs and Ministry of Education by providing email addresses and an optional starter template. 

Our kids should have options to stay dry. Write to save our covered play areas!

Covered Play Areas are a necessity in rainy North Vancouver

To our dismay, we have been advised by the North Vancouver School District that they plan to re-classify and re-name the policy that is under review from “Covered Area Projects” to “Site Enhancements”; lumping covered areas in with “outdoor classrooms, playground installations, gardens, and public art”. 

As we have pointed out, many feel that covered areas are a necessity (an essential component of the school building given our rain-forest climate), not an “enhancement” to be grouped in a policy with gardens and public art. Lumping covered areas with “enhancements” seems to already defeat any potential policy toward including them as an essential component in schools. 

The motion that the North Vancouver School Board approved in Nov. 2012, stated that they will “forward the issue of covered area projects to the Policy Review Committee for the development of policy and to the Presidents’ Council for future advocacy”. We urge the NVSD to create a policy, with public input, that specifically addresses covered areas only (in the two existing scenarios): 

1.    Covered Area Policy for new school builds (not an additional capital project but within the school build/renovation capital budget): Covered areas should be included in new school building plans from the beginning so they can be included in the funding estimate and capital fund planning with the Ministry (the Ministry of Education Area Standards state that covered play areas may be included within a school build budget). The costs are significantly lower if done in the building process rather than after-the-fact AND as mentioned they can be included within the building budget.  

2.    Covered Area Policy for the schools that have had them dismantled or not included in their build (now an additional capital project because of the NVSD decision to eliminate those covered areas): the omission/removal of covered areas was a decision made without public consultation, we need a policy that helps remedy the results of that decision by building and funding covered areas for those schools that no longer have them.

We encourage the policy review committees to really consider the students and to gather and consider public input to create policies that meet the needs of the children. The decisions made today will affect thousands of children for many generations to come. 

Option 1 Design approved, but School District will not fund

Members of Highlands Covered Area Committee & Highlands principals met again with the NVSD (North Vancouver School District) Finance & Facilities Dept. on April 2^nd. The NVSD approved Option 1 (see Highlands-Options), however they said they will not provide any funding (nor will they work towards sourcing any funding); Highlands’s students and their families would have to raise the entire estimated $150,000. We pointed out that we feel that the portion of the NVSD board approved motion (posted in our Nov. 30^th update) “the board will consult with the Highland Parent Advisory Council and staff to…develop a multi-stakeholder funding plan” has not been fulfilled.

Additionally, the onus is being placed upon Highlands’s families despite the fact that the NVSD saved $700,000 from the Highlands school build coming in under-budget; all whilst Highland’s parents were raising concerns regarding the need for covered areas (concerns raised frequently from the date the designs were revealed in 2006 through to today). We pointed out what an enormous undertaking it would be for Highlands’s families to raise $150,000; our HPAC simply does not have the funds and we would be challenged to garner the commitment to raise and spend that large sum of money (it would take years of hard work to raise those funds and many feel that covered areas should be included within the school build budget, rather than funded by families).

We also reiterated that given our rain-forest climate, we view the NVSD decision not to provide covered areas as a building deficiency; rather than an exclusion of a “nice to have feature”. Schools should be built to serve the students in the climate they live in; where it rains a lot and children are required to go outside daily, offering shelter options is a necessity. Children’s needs for fresh air, exercise, and outdoor learning experiences are at stake when you take away outdoor covered area options.

The BC Ministry of Education’s school building “Area Standards” supports the inclusion of covered areas in school builds in areas of high precipitation (so they can be funded within the school capital budgets as they have been in the past). We encourage the BC Ministry of Education to ensure that the standards are upheld. The fact that the decision to include covered areas rests with each school district seems to defeat the reason the standards were created in the first place.

The NVSD is currently reviewing the policy regarding covered areas as noted in the final portion of their approved motion “to forward the issue of covered area projects to the Policy Review Committee for the development of policy and to the Presidents’ Council for future advocacy.” Our covered area committee feels that the next step is to raise community awareness of the issue of covered areas for all North Vancouver Schools and encourage members of our community to provide their input toward the policy decisions. We would like to see the NVSD policy set to include (and fund) covered areas in future school builds as well as a policy set to include (and fund) covered areas for the schools that had their covered areas taken away (either dismantled or not included in their new build).

At some point, a decision was made to stop building covered areas, even to dismantle some existing ones. We recommend a high level of public consultation and student consideration as the policies regarding covered areas are reviewed. We have learned that over the past ten years, a number of North Vancouver schools have made requests for covered areas; clearly there is a need. We encourage parents from all North Vancouver schools and members of our North Vancouver community to write to the NVSD (the Superintendent & the School Board) with your concerns regarding the need for covered areas and your recommendations as they create policies concerning them. 

In a recent survey conducted by Highland’s PAC asking families “what are some key things that HPAC members can do this year to most benefit our school?”, “work on creating a covered play area” came in at a close second to the top request “support and help develop our school learning environment”. We have had many people throughout our community tell us that covered areas are a “no brainer” given our climate. We encourage the North Vancouver School District to create a policy, and find a means to ensure covered areas for all schools. 

Discussing the Covered Play Area Design Options

Members of Highlands Covered Area Committee & HPAC and Highlands Principals met with the NVSD Finance & Facilities Dept. on Jan. 15^th to discuss the covered area options. We discussed the pros and cons of the three options (see “Highlands-Options” ). The meeting concluded with the NVSD committing to further consideration of options #1 and #3 and they will either choose their preferred option or if they deem both options to be considerations; we have offered to poll parents/teachers/students for their preference. They said that they will also look further into funding options. The $700,000 surplus resulting from the Highland’s build coming in under-budget has been spent by the NVSD on other projects, so they are looking into other funding options (and our HPAC will likely be required to contribute as well).  They will get back to us mid-February regarding the option(s) and funding. Things are looking promising! 

Additionally, as stated at the Nov 2012 NVSD public boarding meeting, the board voted to “forward the issue of covered area projects to the Policy Review Committee for the development of policy and to the Presidents’ Council for future advocacy”. We will update this web-blog when we receive any information as to how that is progressing.