SAANICHNEWS
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Speaking the Truth Truth and Reconciliation Commission comes to Victoria. News feature, Page A3
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
REGRETS people have on their deathbeds
Palliative care We ask a UVic expert for her observations on a popular Internet list. Community, Page A26
250.889.0246
2011 Gold MLS Award www.century21.ca/alison.stoodley
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Saanich to re-examine restructured golf course food service
AFTER-SCHOOL DRAMA Voluntary extracurricular activities cancelled in Saanich district, no word in Victoria until Friday
Kyle Slavin News staff
Natalie North News staff
D
orothy will soon click her ruby slippers across the Ridge Playhouse stage during Claremont secondary’s presentation of The Wizard of Oz. However, not all schools will have the opportunity to present their final productions as the threat of a province-wide removal of voluntary extracurricular activities looms. Teachers vote this week (April 17 to 19) on whether to support the B.C. Teachers’ Federation plan to ramp up job action with boycotts of voluntary services. The move is in protest of Bill 22 – legislation that removes class size and composition limits and introduces hefty fines for teachers who strike. If supported, this week’s vote will trigger a second vote on whether to support a potential walkout. Teachers in about a dozen districts across B.C., including Sooke and Saanich, are already strongly recommending that their colleagues refuse to volunteer for extracurricular activities. Sports, music and theatre programming offered outside regular school hours are generally considered extracurricular. However, The Wizard of Oz – which involves 90 students, or about 10 per cent of the school’s population – will continue since the production is part of a course that is considered curricular. “I empathize with the other teachers around the province who have put so much time in and are looking at having to cancel if the vote goes ahead with the removal of extracurricular (activities),” said Claremont drama teacher Colin Plant. “There are productions around the province that are stopping.”
Alison Stoodley
Don Denton/News staff
St. Michaels University School rugby player Jeff Nishima-Miller prepares for contact with the Gulf Islands’ Alex Graham during the Vancouver Island seven-a-side tournament at Centennial Stadium on Friday. Private schools such as SMUS won’t be affected by this week’s teachers’ vote, but public schools could soon be facing a coaching crunch. Plant, who is also the president of the Association of B.C. Drama Educators, noted the association’s annual provincial drama festival, slated to take place May 3 in New Westminster, was cancelled to mitigate financial loss if the vote passes as expected. The cancellation of theatre productions is primarily a secondary school issue, Plant said. Drama tends to be a part of exploratory programs at the elementary and middle school lev-
els, and performances are often fit into regular class times. The Saanich School District officially announced the cancellation of voluntary extracurricular activities on April 12. Parent and community involvement will allow most sporting events in high schools to continue. PLEASE SEE: Grad and school sports face drama, Page A10
The municipality is looking to bring in a third party to ensure the newly restructured food and beverage service at the Cedar Hill Golf Course is running as efficiently as possible. Saanich’s parks and recreation director, Doug Henderson, said the focus will be on such things as: “Are we doing inventory correctly? Are we doing ordering procedures correctly? Is there anything else we need to add, within the parameters of the existing service?” Henderson hopes to have a third party hired to conduct the evaluation before the end of the month. Public conversations surrounding what will happen to the second floor of the clubhouse, where the restaurant used to be, won’t be held till May at the earliest. kslavin@saanichnews.com
Related story Cedar Hill golf course reports drop in sales of annual passes. Page A5
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