SD57: Back to school won’t be rained out by vandals

There are less than 24 hours before students will be back in classrooms across the district.

For one Prince George school, however, they’re faced will some unwanted clean up before hundreds of students take a step on their playground on Wednesday.

A case of vandalism was discovered on the exterior of Van Bien Elementary School on Monday.

Despite the spray-painted walls, SD57 Chair Tim Bennett is assuring parents that crews are working to get the school cleaned up.

“It’s always disappointing when we see this type of vandalism happen to our buildings. Especially because we are cognizant of how we use our dollars and it does cost taxpayer dollars to be able to repair these types of vandalism. Now that we know the vandalism is there, our facility staff and painters will be mobilizing to get that school cleaned up and ready for the first day of school tomorrow.”

“Our facility staff will work very hard to get repairs and clean-ups done as fast as they’re able to. Recognizing that tomorrow is the first day of school, I know that they’re working hard to do everything that they can.”

Bennett said clean up for this type of thing will be covered by the Annual Facility Grant that the school district receives from the provincial government. He adds that this type of expenditure may lead to the cost of clean up coming from other aspects of their operating dollars or — depending on the size of the project — it could dip into some the the district’s surplus.