September 2025

These are the topics discussed at the September meeting.

Election of Officers

Jackie Lee is willing to be president once again, but because his child is in Gr 12, he is looking for a co-chair so that person can slowly take over the role next year.

Octavio West, who is returning Treasurer, is willing to co-chair.

Natalie Spadafora has stepped forward to become vice-chair

Position of Secretary still needs to be filled.

Allison Tredwell and Carl Mason have come forward to become Directors at Large

DPAC rep: Deborah Silver is willing to continue but her child is also in Gr 12 and would like to orient someone to take on the role. She stresses the DPAC has influence on the school board level, and there are many committees that work in focussed areas such as food, school safety, racism, etc

Please contact Jackie Lee at EricHamberPAC@gmail.com to volunteer to join the executive

The chair is urging parents to join WhatsApp to get and share news about the school. He says since the platform has a lot of bots, he vets the phone numbers to familiar area codes. You should reach out to him if you have been rejected from joining. Also he is working on getting Chinese and Spanish-speaking WhatsApp groups launched.

Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer went over the basics of his role. The PAC is eligible to receive “gaming grants” from the province as long as there is a PAC executive in place, and the grants must be used for extra-curricular activities. School clubs approach the PAC for funding, and the PAC discerns which clubs get money, and how much. Last year there were 60 clubs.

“Gaming money” can be used for such things as uniforms, materials, registering for events, etc. When clubs make a request, they have to include how many members they have, to give the PAC a sense of how many students would benefit.

Last year, the PAC received $60,000 worth of requests from clubs. The PAC had roughly $40,000 to disperse - $30,000 received from gaming, and $10,000 carried over from the previous year.  All but about 90% of the funds, or $6,000, were dispersed. It should be noted that besides “gaming,” the PAC also has a separate account to pay for meeting snacks, rental of the PAC website, etc.

Principal’s Report

Mr. Lauzon looks back at his first year at the school (last year) as really challenging. He appreciates the people who get involved with PAC, as he says parent voices are important and he takes what he hears at meetings to relay it to staff.

Unlike last year, the Gr 8 welcome day did happen this year.

He addressed the many complaints lodged about “scheduling disruptions” that saw students line up for hours outside counsellors’ offices to get courses switched. He acknowledges that it’s very problematic and that it was more challenging this year than last. However, in checking in with other principals, he says the problem is distinct-wide.

A large part of the scheduling disruptions comes from the school being at capacity. The school was built for 1,700 students, and Hamber has already reached the maximum. That makes timetabling and making changes to timetables very challenging. Some classes are full, so finding spaces for additional students is difficult, especially when it has to fit into the student’s schedule. 

Staffing is also limited. Staff was down by one counsellor, but Mr. Lauzon says another counsellor is on the way beginning October.

To address current/future overcrowding, Mr. Lauzon has enquired about allowing some students to attend Prince of Wales, which now has a dropping enrolment. The population of Hamber, meantime, continues to grow, as new students enrol. The school might have to reduce the number of spaces taken up by international students (right now the number is about 100).

The seismic upgrade of the school failed to provide for much of the new accessories within the school, such as technology, bookshelves, projectors, etc. The school had to go into a deficit to pay for them. The school conducted a direct appeal to parents to help pay off the debt.  Mr. Lauzon says instead of focussing on being a principal, he had to think about fundraising.

Last year, the school was unable to rent spaces out, to generate revenue, because it was under warranty. This year, the school is renting out a space every Sunday to a church group, which will help pay down the debt. After the debt is paid off, the money will be used on what the students need.The Vancouver School Board is also looking at renting out gym space (in the evening) when not in use by students.

Incidentally, the old school is being used as a TV-series location, but only the school board, not the school, will see the revenue.

A Gr. 8 camp is not happening this year, due to the lack of staff to coordinate and the costs.

Grad expenses are also high. Mr. Lauzon is urging parents to reach out if they are unable to pay for dinner-dance and grad ceremony fees. The arrival of FIFA next spring means many grad venues are not available. Timing is tricky because he doesn’t want grad-related ceremonies to happen too early, as students then don’t focus on school, but not too late either because then they occur at exam time.

He acknowledges traffic flow outside the school is not satisfactory. People dropping off kids at the childcare facility (located on the top floor of the school) contributes to the congestion. He is urging parents avoid entering the parking lot, and to drop off students perhaps a block away.

He stresses if parents have concerns, they should reach out to him, and even ask for a face-to-face meeting. He says often times people are angry simply because of some misinformation that has been circulating.