Eric Hamber PAC
October Newsletter
October 27. 2026
These are the topics discussed at the October meeting
Chairperson’s report
Octavio tells us because gaming grants are worth roughly $20 per student, Eric Hamber was granted close to $34,000 for this school year. The funds must go to school clubs with a teacher sponsor. Applications are now open. Once applications close next month, PAC executives will discuss how to disperse the funds, with a vote on disbursement at the next PAC meeting. Sometimes there are second and third rounds of funding, if money is left over. The intention is to widely disperse funds to benefit the most students.
Treasurer’s report
Adam has set up a QR code attached to a Cash Online account to make it easier for parents to donate to PAC initiatives, such as for grad and the teacher appreciation lunch. Parents can designate funds to specific causes. A few years ago the school did a direct drive to help the debt the school found itself in, after moving into the new location.
Renee told us of a parent fundraiser that is about to be launched for Christmas with proceeds going towards grad activities and subsidizing grad fees.
There is $7,000 left over from last year’s gaming grant, so that means there is about $42,000 to disperse to clubs. The PAC oversees two other accounts, besides the gaming account. There is $600 in a general account and $12,000 in a Hamber account set up from the direct drive effort a few years ago.
Round one of club applications opened October 16 and all 93 of the school’s clubs can now submit their requests. Nineteen have already done so. Applications for this round are due November 6.
DPAC report
Preetika has attended two DPAC meetings since the beginning of the school year. The first was online and focussed on the Cash Online processing fees that were about to be offloaded to parents. However, as of this week, the Vancouver School Board has rescinded that decision, and will continue to cover the processing fee and will be refunding parents who already paid it.
The second DPAC meeting featured a guest speaker who focussed on inclusion in the classroom. Other issues brought up included vaping concerns at some high schools, whether the VSB is keeping up on new tech needs in classrooms, and whether new fees would cover costs of updating tech. There are 30 PACs in the district that are in a deficit position. Discussions took place about how to level the financial playing field among all PACs.
Traffic safety update
Octavio pointed out there have been no accidents this school year, but in past years there have been a number of them. Parents should make safety a priority when dropping off and picking up students. For instance, students should not be dropped off in the childcare parking lot nor should they be dropped off at the crosswalk. Every effort should be made to drop students off a couple of blocks away. The PAC will be launching a safety campaign in the coming months.
Principal’s report
Mr. Lauzon continued the safety theme, by pointing out that because there is no longer a time change, the sun will only rise at 9am on the shortest day of the year.
The principal confirmed the news that Cash Online processing fees will no longer be charged to parents and that the school’s accountant now has to reimburse families who’ve already paid the fees.
He says the fact there are 93 clubs in the school shows how engaged the students are. Besides the PAC funding clubs, he says student council fundraising also benefits clubs.
The school’s newsletter will be coming out this week. Report cards will be issued November 26. Parent - teacher conferences happen in early December. But the principal re-iterates that because there aren’t enough slots to accommodate everyone, parents should reach out to teachers at any time to discuss their kids’ progress.