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Locked doors at the community school

It's been a problem for the soccer players for some time that there was no access to washrooms during part of the practice. Debra Springfellow coaches the U 4-5 team. She said, "In the past, the school used to close at 3 p.m.

It's been a problem for the soccer players for some time that there was no access to washrooms during part of the practice. Debra Springfellow coaches the U 4-5 team. She said, "In the past, the school used to close at 3 p.m. and when one of the kids or the parents had to go, well, they had to go in the bushes."

Last Sunday, the door to the community school stayed locked for the whole day and a sign said that the closest public washrooms could be found at the ferry terminal or the fish hatchery. Springfellow said, "With the school closed on Sundays, it's even more of the concern. The women practice from 1 to 2 p.m. and some of them stay to help coach the kids. So they are on the field for over four hours." Springfellow added that there are approximately 54 kids registered to play soccer on Sundays and they often show up with parents and siblings to cheer them on.

Closing the school on weekends is one of the measures that have been implemented by the Bowen Island Municipality in an effort to stay within a budget that was approved by council this April. Christine Walker, recreation programming supervisor, explained, "We operate under a joint-use agreement between the municipality and the school district. And that joint use agreement basically outlines how the community can access the community school." Walker says that the agreement has been in place for a number of years. It's never been updated but it's currently under revision.

Walker said, "For the last three years, the school district has been invoicing the municipality for the full use of the school outside regular school hours. That's basically Monday through Friday evenings and the weekends. This year, we've finally determined what the actual true cost of all that has been." Walker said that for the 2010/2011 school year, the cost was around $46,000. But the sum the municipality has earmarked this year is only $27,000.

Walker clarified, "We've always had this in the budget but it's just been there as a top-up. The school district used to get Community Link funding that would help offset the cost for the additional time of access to the facility but they don't receive that funding any more and haven't for a while."

When the bill came, Walker recommended that council to pay up. She said, "It is only fair. We used the facility during those times and should be paying for the costs. The school district is saying, 'We are not trying to make any money here, we are trying to break even.' So we paid the full amount. But this year, council decided not to increase the budget."

Council made the decision in April and that timing created difficulties for the recreation department. Walker said, "By that point, we had gone through a full cycle of all our winter programming, the spring programming was under way and the summer programming was already set up. So, in order to meet that budget, we had to implement changes to our fall schedule. And that meant closure of the facility on Saturdays and Sundays in addition to reducing our hours during the week."

Closing the school also presents a challenge to community groups who use the gym. Walker says, "Right now, the gymnastics club is using the facility on Saturdays. I don't know whether the school district is going to open it for community access to the washrooms. It also affects the community school coordinator and rentals."

Events that have been scheduled in advance, like the Christmas craft fair, are likely going to go ahead. Walker says, "Because this happened so late in the year, the school district has been open to keep things running that have been programmed up until the end of December but after that, we have to scale back completely."

Walker realized that "council had to make some tough decisions." But with funding cuts to the recreation budget and the reduced access to the school, there was a huge hit on community services this year.

The community recreation department has been asked to recover its costs, including the $27,000 for school access. Walker said, "This is difficult. It is the community hub and yet, one department has to be responsible for covering all the costs of running that facility. We offer [affordable] programs for a broad range of the community so that everybody can participate."

Walker has looked at other communities and found that municipalities do subsidize facilities in order for programs to run. She says, "Community centres don't usually have to recover the costs for the entire facility. For me, this is an integral part of community building, of bringing community together to do all sorts of activities in a healthy and social setting."

About the concerns of the soccer club, Walker said, "The bathrooms are a huge issue. The school district has recommended that if we have programs running at the school site, then we have to have some sort of toilet facility available. We've had port-a-potties in the summer. But that's $400-500 a month. If you add that up, that would be $6000."

The weekends can be busy times at the school grounds when people frequent the community's only public playground, the public tennis grounds and the fields. "I wish that we could continue what we were doing and have access to the facility," Walker says. "It really is the hub of our community. If you go down there, you see kids learning to ride bikes. People play basketball, tennis and soccer. And the kids are having fun in the playground. It's the only place on the island families can go to that has had those types of facilities available."