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Elementary students kick off the Year of the Rabbit
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Burnaby South is number 1 again PAGE 23
Your source for local sports, news, weather and entertainment! >> www.burnabynow.com FRASER INSTITUTE RANKINGS
Private schools at the top City school trustee says that’s no surprise given that private schools can ‘pick and choose’ Jennifer Moreau staff reporter
Once again, private schools dominated the top five spots in the Fraser Institute’s annual report card on B.C. schools. Holy Cross Elementary was ranked first in Burnaby and 22 in the province. Also for Burnaby, John Knox Christian School came in second, Our Lady of Mercy was third, St. Helen’s fourth and St. Michael’s was fifth. The highest-ranking public school was Buckingham Elementary, which came in sixth for Burnaby, but 74th in B.C. The lowest ranking school was Forest Grove Elementary, which scored 865 out of 874 schools provincewide. The Fraser Institute, a right-wing think-tank, uses data from the provincial Foundation Skills Assessment tests to rank the schools. The FSAs are annual reading writing and math tests for grades 4 and 7 students. The provincial government uses them to get a snapshot of how B.C. students are doing, something the left-leaning B.C. Teachers’ Federation has opposed for years, particularly because the Fraser Institute uses them for ranking schools in the Report Card. Last year, the top five schools in Burnaby were also all private. The Fraser Institute’s Peter Cowley outlined a couple of reasons that private schools consistently dominate the Report Card’s top spots. Private schools can pick and choose whom they enroll, whereas public schools Tests Page 8
Larry Wright/burnaby now
Grisly discovery: The Burnaby RCMP and IHIT members were on scene most of Monday and Tuesday at Warner Loat
Park near Burnaby Lake after a woman’s body was discovered just after noon on Monday. Here, a police dog combs the bushes for any evidence. For more photos from the scene, go to www.burnabynow.com.
Foul play: Woman’s body found Alfie Lau
staff reporter
Police tape was all around Warner Loat Park on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning as Burnaby RCMP and members of the integrated homicide investigation team looked into the discovery of an adult woman’s body near the popular dogwalking park in central Burnaby. IHIT spokesperson Cpl. Dale Carr told a media scrum on Monday afternoon that a walker in the area noticed the body in some bushes around noon and immediately called the police. The area, near the intersection of
Winston Street and Piper Avenue, is often frequented by dog walkers and people who use the trails that lead to Burnaby Lake. When Burnaby RCMP arrived, they quickly roped off the area and the mobile command unit was sent to the scene. Carr said investigators are working the case as a homicide and they do suspect foul play. “From a two-foot distance, what they’re seeing suggests foul play,” said Carr, who added that it is still early in the investigation. Carr revealed on Monday night that the body was that of a woman. He said
the body doesn’t look like it has been there long – probably less than a week – judging by the level of decomposition. Carr said that currently, there is no indication the body’s discovery is linked to gang violence or drugs. Carr was quick to point out that investigators have no reason to believe Monday’s discovery is connected to a case last week where a woman’s body was found wrapped in plastic and dumped in a ditch in Kirkstone Park in North Vancouver. “I would venture to say they are two Body Page 5
Happy Chinese New Year 恭喜發財 RICHARD LAM 發 哥
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