ssues & ideas EDITOR BILL EVERITT THE DAILY VOICE, FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2014 7 Student density downtown The Vancouver school board is struggling to cope with a declining budget and a growing population By MEGAN BOBETSIS neouver schoo] officials are pro- Yoosts the use of an empty build- ing at Seymour Elementary to ad- dress the overflow of kindergarten students in the downtown area. The school board will look at the pro- posal in a committee meeting April 22. It would be a temporary fix until the “International Village” school in the Downtown _ East- side is completed. “All school facili- ties located on the downtown — penin- sula are operating at or above capaci- ty,” a March 28 re- port said. PATTI BACCHUS Chair of the Vancouver yancouver school school board chair Photo from the Patti Bacchus said, Vancouver Sun “We've known for quite some time r4 4 that the growth in school age children ’ has been quite sig- We've nificant down- known for town.” ° The number of some time Vancouver kinder- that the garten students will increase to 9g rowth 4,090 in 2017 from in school 3,758 last year, ac- 7. cording to the B.C. age chil Ministry of Educa- dren has tion. been quite “School board . coe senior manage- significant ment really wants downtown 3 couple more schools built, but they’re waiting on provincial funding,” said Monica Mo- berg, chair of the District Parent Advi- sory Council. The new school would cater to stu- dents living between Burrard Street and Main Street, and would be situated between the current Lord Roberts School and Strathcona School atten- dance areas. Bacchus said having these students start at the Seymour building will make a smoother transition for them and staff when the new school opens. The report said this plan would allow the new facility to open up mid-year if necessary, increase space for students to provide capacity relief throughout downtown elementary schools and be- gin to establish the environment of the new school. There are eight classrooms in Sey- mour Elementary’s empty building, with one needing to be converted to an administrative office space, and five or six to be used for teaching. The report outlines some “cosmetic changes” that will need to be complet- ed on the building including painting and new flooring and lighting. These renovations are said to cost less than $200,000. Bacchus said that expense is consid- ered minor and would come from the regular operating budget. “Tt is believed that the number of challenges will be minimal and that there is potential for a positive impact on the current school community at Seymour,” the report said. Bacchus said the board is encourag- ing feedback from the Seymour school community, but she said so far she hasn’t heard any major objections. a = an A610 04-9 LAUREN COLLINS PHOTO Eppy Rappaport, owner of Omnitsky’s Kosher Deli, says the increasing popularity of Kosher foods is part of the reason costs are low Kosher food prices decline Even with a weak Canadian dollar, this local store reduced prices 66 Kosher food for the last 20 years has been the fast- est grow- ing ethnic food, bar none Eppy Rappaport By LAUREN COLLINS osher food providers say this Passover will cost consumers less due to industry growth, ontrary to claims in a recent Maclean’s article. The story on the Maclean’s website said accessing kosher products - par- ticularly dairy and poultry - is difficult and the prices will be rising. But Eppy Rappaport, the owner of Omnitsky’s Kosher Delicatessen and Store, said he’s not sure where the in- formation is coming from. “Kosher food for the last 20 years has been the fastest-growing ethnic food, bar none, throughout North America,” he said. “There are more and more compa- nies getting involved with supervision because the rabbis always go that extra mile.” Rappaport said producers of kosher foods make sure to find out where the ingredients are coming from to make sure they meet kosher criteria. Because of gluten and dairy aller- gies, lots of people are eating kosher food because there are tighter controls on ingredients, Rappaport said. “Because of the growth factor, and more companies getting involved, the price of kosher foods is actually coming down.” Rappaport said the prices of his foods have dropped 15 to 20 per cent over last year. This is at a time when the dollar is actually a little bit weaker than it was last year, he said, which would normal- ly mean his costs would be up. Passover is an eight-day Jewish fes- tival in spring to celebrate the end of slavery among Israelites in ancient Egypt. The owner of the Kosher Food Ware- house, Steve Hertzman, said most of his products are on special and no pric- es have increased. Hertzman said the kosher meats and poultry prices are going up, but it’s “part of the natural cycle.” Rappaport said, “Beef is up lately, but if you go into Costco, you're going to see that.” Regarding the rumours of rising ko- sher food prices, Rappaport said, “That is the most asinine thing I’ve ever heard of.” Car2Go hits 700 cars in Vancouver T peSMriful British Columbia 903#SLD ALI CRANE PHOTO Car2Go now has the largest stable of cars in Vancouver By ALI CRANE in Vancouver, now home to the largest Car2Go fleet in North America. Vancouver has over 700 Car2Go Smart cars in stock, and the company has recently expanded its authorized area south to SW Marine Drive. “Take it. Drive it. Park it.” is the mot- to of Car2Go, a car-sharing service that provides gas and electric powered ve- hicles to its members and charges them by the minute. Participants can rent a compact blue and white Smart car on a one-way, point-to-point basis that includes gas, insurance, and parking. No one at Car2Go Vancouver was available on Thursday to explain why the service is so popular in Vancouver. However, Ben Edelstein, a Langara student studying business manage- ment, said he started using Car2Go af- ter the company held an event on cam- pus two years ago. “At the time I had my car but the whole concept around ride-sharing was interesting because sometimes you don’t always want to take your car downtown but you still want to get around,” he said. “A lot of people want the ability to Risin is expanding rapidly use a vehicle when they need it but they don’t want to own one. Car2Go is that perfect blend where you can pay out of the pocket but you’re not on the hook for anything.” Stacey McLachlan, associate editor of Western Living Magazine said, “I think because Vancouver is such a con- centrated city a lot of people are inter- ested in it. It’s easier than transit, that’s for sure.” Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Plan includes car-share expansion and greener transit initiatives with the ulti- mate goal of making Vancouver the world’s greenest city by 2020. The success of the company in the city results from a growing interest in sharing among consumers, and green energy vehicles, said Edelstein. “Car2Go is great for the environ- ment because it’s putting less cars on the road,” he said. Recently, the provincial government ended a $5,000 rebate for those who buy an electric car, despite seeing in Janu- ary the highest-ever number of pur- chases. Edelstein thinks this is bad for the green transit initiative but thinks Car- 2Go provides a good alternative. “T don’t think people are ready to go full electric yet, but Car2Go is a happy medium.”