Finance and Facilities Meeting Summary - Feb 5, 2013

NVPAC attended the Finance and Facilities Meeting  on Tuesday February 5, 2013. 

Thanks to Jane Lagden Holborne for drafting this report. 

Secretary-Treasurer Georgia Allison presented the three-year financial forecast and the Projected Financial Summary and Incremental Forecast.  It is expected that there will be a surplus of just over $3 million at the end of the current school year.  The surplus will be completely exhausted by the end of the 2013/14 school year, however, and by the 2015/16 school year, the expected shortfall will be nearly $6 million.

Ms Allison invited partner groups to participate in the 2013/14 Operating Budget Development Consultation Process.  Partner groups are requested to submit proposals for cost savings, in accordance with the Province of BC's Cooperative Gains Mandate.  This mandate requires that savings identified be real and measurable, with no transfer of cost to the public, and no reduction in services.  Partner group presentations will be made at the March 12 Finance and Facilities meeting.

Greg Milner, District Principal - Administrative Services, spoke about the Common Student Information System Update.  The present system, BCeSIS will not exist after 2016.  There is a need for a province-wide information system which can follow student s they progress through the school system.  After gathering input from stakeholders, an RFP was issued in December 2012, and it will close later this month.  It is expected that a contractor will be chosen, and a contract negotiated by July 2013.  The new system will begin to be implemented in April 2014, with full implementation by January 2016.

Ian Abercrombie, Director of Facilities and Planning presented the Capital Planning Update.

Construction:  The completion date for the Queen Mary project has been revised to the fall of 2013, as more extensive remediation was required than originally envisioned.  All seismic work at Queen Mary is now complete.  At Mountainside Secondary (the former Balmoral site), phase 1 of the project is complete – demolition and some asbestos remediation has been done, together with some cosmetic work.  Phase 2 of the project involves some new construction and renovation and should be complete in May.  At Carson Graham, site work such as asphalt paving, concrete and exterior lighting is near completion.  Grass seeding will be done when the weather is warmer.  The site includes bioswales to manage water on the site, rather than having it drain directly into the nearby creek.

Planning:  The requested bus replacement has been approved.  Argyle Secondary has been undergoing a seismic inspection, and 4 of 7 blocks have been identified as High Risk.  Cost of seismic upgrade only is estimated at $25.8 million; seismic upgrade plus “renewal” is estimated at $60.1 million; cost of full replacement of Argyle is estimated at $44.7million.  Seismic inspection is also underway at Handsworth as 6 of 8 blocks have been rated as H1 or H2.  At Windsor, some seismic improvements will be required due to changes in building code; these upgrades could be accomplished during the summer.

Renewal:  Functional improvements have been made at a number of schools.  “Choices” classrooms have been built at Handsworth, Argyle, Seycove and Windsor.  Acoustic projects have been undertaken at Dorothy Lynas, Ridgeway, Seycove, and Sherwood Park.  Facility upgrades include items such as new window coverings, whiteboards, interior and exterior painting, flooring upgrades, and roofing projects at various schools.  An exterior stairway was replaced at Seycove.  There have also been furnace and boiler replacements at several schools, and fume hoods have been either replaced or upgraded at all of the secondary schools.