A looming $6.4-million shortfall isn’t stopping the Burnaby school district from proposing two new high school programs for next fall.
Tucked into preliminary budget plans are a new robotics program at Alpha Secondary and a new health sciences program at Moscrop.
Combined, the two programs would need about $81,000 for startup: $27,000 for computer and other electronics equipment at Alpha and $54,000 for lab equipment at Moscrop.
Both programs would see students from across the district attend three extended afternoon sessions per week.
The driving force behind the robotics program is Alpha tech ed teacher Russell Evanisky, sponsor of the district’s only competitive robotics club, which recently hosted the VEX Robotics B.C. Provincial Championships.
Students who pass his new program would earn 12 course credits and four work experience credits, according to assistant-superintendent Roberto Bombelli.
Bombelli said he doesn’t expect any problems filling the 22 to 25 spots in the program, even though it’s late in the year and students have a lot of other programs to choose from.
“There’s quite a bit of interest in robotics,” he told the NOW. “We’ve got a number of schools that run clubs and programs.”
As for starting the new program while the district faces a shortfall next year, Bombelli said mechatronics – of which robotics is a subset – is a growing field, with new programs at SFU, UBC and BCIT.
“It’s a huge area of interest,” he said, adding the new program also aligns with the district’s focus on career preparation both for students going to university and those going straight into the work force.
The proposed health sciences program would be a partnership with BCIT, which is the main reason it would be housed at Moscrop, according to Bombelli.
“This program would have extensive use of BCIT’s labs and facilities,” he said. “Kids would be going there quite a bit to use their equipment.”
Students who successfully complete the course would earn 12 course credits and dual credit for a BCIT course.
While the district estimates it would need $54,000 for things like lab equipment to start up the program, Bombelli said the investment would leverage even more value for students from the BCIT partnership.
“If we were to be buying all of our own labs and facilities it would be much much higher than that,” he said.
Superintendent Gina Niccoli-Moen echoed his sentiments.
“I believe, if we engage the entrepreneurial spirit, we can do a lot with a little,” she told the NOW. “It’s always that branching out to where we can partner to create those new opportunities.”
The Burnaby board of education is scheduled to vote on the preliminary 2015/16 budget at a public board meeting April 28.
For more information, visit sd41.bc.ca.
