BARRIERE SECONDARY PAC REPORTS

The Barriere Secondary Parent Advisory Council has been very busy this
winter and spring.

The School Planning Committee (SPC), which consists of the principal, one
teacher representative, and three PAC members, has been working on
developing school goals for the 2003/2004 year since September.

The three goals the committee has identified are to improve literacy
skills, to improve numeracy skills and to encourage positive relationships
between students, staff and parents. These recommendations were ratified by
the PAC at their February meeting and will be reviewed by the board of
trustees in May. The PAC math committee, with the help of Mr. Myers,
ordered algebra and fraction booklets to help students become more
proficient with these basic math concepts. The booklets are now available
for students and parents, and may be accessed through the math teacher or
the school library.

The two Serge LeClerc presentations, sponsored in part by the PAC, were
very powerful and well received by both the parent and the student groups.
Mr. LeClerc offered a number of solutions to the problems, some we already
have in place and others that need to be addressed.

Our school is designated as a "drug free zone." This means students caught
with drugs in the zone will receive double the consequences. The school
district has developed a new and stronger policy on drugs and alcohol, and
PAC supports the efforts of the school administration and the RCMP to keep
drugs and alcohol out of our school. Please, help prevent a tragedy by
reporting alcohol or drug use by minors to the RCMP.

Bullying is an ugly fact in all schools. On Tuesday, April 29, after the
PAC meeting, Eldon Cameron from the British Columbia Teacher's Federation
presented an anti-bullying workshop. This workshop covered some of the
causes and effects, and also suggested solutions.

Handouts from this workshop are available from PAC. A reminder to parents:
Every year there are two survey forms sent home, one in March for the
parents of Grade 10 students and one at the end of the year for parents of
all students. Please take the time to fill out these forms and return them
to the school. The results are used as an indicator of the problems and
successes at the school and decisions are based on this data.

Only seven weeks of school are left. If there is a teacher that has had a
positive impact on your student, now would be a good time to let them know.
As part of next year's SPC goals, the parents need to encourage these
positive interactions and acknowledge teachers' efforts. Let Gord Davis
know we would like these teachers to stay in Barriere by sending a letter
of support to the teacher and a copy to him.

If you have concerns about what is happening in the secondary school please
join us at our monthly meeting May 27, 6 p.m. in the BSS Library. Call
Susan Ross at 672-5723 for more information.