School board supports billeting visiting students in John McInnis gym

School District 57 students from outside Prince George could soon be sleeping in a local gymnasium during overnight trips to the city.

At last night’s school board meeting, trustees approved overnight stays at a local school gymnasium for district students visiting Prince George from out of town.

Board chair Tony Cable says the cost of putting students up in hotels during overnight trips can be prohibitively expensive.

“This is very important because one of the issues that we’ve heard constantly from the rural areas is that when they want to come down for a field trip or go to a sporting event, sometimes you have to stay overnight and it’s very expensive to stay in hotels.”

Cable says this new option will make things easier for travelling classes and teams.

“They will have an opportunity if you come in from Valemount to Prince George [say], you’ll have a chance to stay at John McInnis in the gym and there will be a little bit of a cost but nothing like it would be at a hotel.”

There are still some details to be worked out but Cable says the board may end up expanding the program.

“It’s going to be a pilot project for one year and then, from there, we’ll evaluate it and if it’s worked well and there’s a high demand, we will definitely continue it and look at the need for maybe expanding it to other gyms.”

While the immediate priority is to serve students from SD 57, Cable says the option could be offered to schools from elsewhere in the province and country eventually.