Peace Arch Elementary parents

This web blog is for all parents and was originally created for the parents of Peace Arch Elementary School. In recent months we have seen a number of parents visiting this site from several countries around the world and perhaps parents from other school districts can share their experiences, thoughts and comments to help us all make our schools a healthier and better place for all our children.

Thank you for taking the time to visit, contribute and share your ideas and comments. ~~~~~~~

Over the last few months we have had so many serious health issues that pertain to our school which directly affect the health of our children.

This web blog has been put up to provide a central place for all parents to turn to, to leave comments, ask questions and communicate.

As parents it is important for us to be able to stick together and protect our kids as best we can. Let's make our children's school as healthy as possible by voicing our concerns and our recommendations and hopefully our strength in words and numbers will lead to a healthier school for our kids.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Another letter requesting a parent meeting

Published with author's permission


Dear Ms. Brine,
I am a faithful, committed Peace Arch parent who has been at the school for 7 years.  My eldest daughter is in Grade 6, my other daughter is in Grade 3 and my little guy will be in Kindergarten next year.  During our seven years at Peace Arch, we have been so happy with the committed staff, the enriched French Immersion curriculum, the caring environment, and to be perfectly honest, everything that Peace Arch stands for.   Having said that, I have lost so much sleep over the issues that Peace Arch is currently dealing with and I still feel very uneasy with the state of our aging school.   It is so  sad that Peace Arch has everything going for it, yet because of an old building, things are starting to deteriorate and it scares me and saddens me to know that my childrens’ health may have been and will continue to be compromised due to the mould, asbestos and water leaks.  I know a great deal has been done to try and rectify things and information has been provided in hopes of reassuring parents, and I appreciate everything that’s been done to date, however,  there are still so many unanswered questions and so many worried parents, me being one of them. 
I have been very diligent with reading the reports on the school website, I have addressed my concerns with both Nancy Johnston, Doug Strachan as well as Mr. John Ormond, however,  I  still have legitimate concerns.  I am not the type of parent who over-reacts, but there is no denying that Peace Arch is dealing with significant issues that can and will impact the health and safety of every child and teacher in that school, both at the present time as well as later down the road.  As  parents, we need to feel that everyone is taking a proactive stand with making the school safe and is taking every preventative measure possible to ensure that each child and teacher is out of harm’s way and can teach and learn in an environment that is safe, and void of potential health issues.
I believe it is essential that a meeting be held with parents as well as school board officials and of course, a WorkSafe representative who will hopefully, be able to shed more light on the situation and help ease the anxiety that so many parents are feeling.  An honest and open dialogue will be far more beneficial than reading political letters and difficult to decipher reports and will help to rebuild trust between the parents and the School District.  Ms. Brine, please consider my request for a meeting as I know there are still a lot of concerned parents (myself included). 
Thank-you in advance for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Bree Van Nes

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