News Release

Minister of Education Visits School District

March 1, 2006

Minister of Education Shirley Bond toured the Howe Sound School District Monday visiting schools in Squamish and Pemberton. She was warmly welcomed and spoke with many students and staff as she visited individual classrooms.

The Minister met with the School Board, the Howe Sound Education Partners
Roundtable, and the District Parents Advisory Council at Whistler Secondary
Community School. The Minister also attended a luncheon with the
Aboriginal Enhancement Agreement Committee at Totem Hall in Squamish. The
meetings covered a wide range of issues and in response to specific
questions the Minister said:

Class size and class composition issues are complex and interrelated,
and she hopes to find a solution at the Provincial Education Roundtable.
The government will expand the on-line tutoring service that was
established last fall to help students catch up on their studies after the
two-week teachers' strike.
The government will create a province-wide virtual school so that
students in one district will be able to take on-line courses in another
district. The districts offering the courses will be funded as if the
students were district students.

The District Parents Advisory Council meeting raised a number of issues, one
in particular that concerned the minister. The Minister said she would look
into the student portfolios and have examples of portfolios made available
on the Ministry's website.

At a luncheon meeting with the Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement
Committee, each member of the committee spoke briefly. One aboriginal member said the committee has a good working relationship with the Howe Sound School District and is hopeful the committee's work will make a positive
difference for aboriginal students. Other members said they too are more
hopeful than they have been in the past and that trust is growing.

The partners working toward this agreement are School District No. 48 (Howe
Sound), the Ministry of Education, the Squamish Nation, the Lil'wat Nation,
the N'Quatqua Band, the Douglas Nation Samahquam Band and the Skatin Nation.

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