Senior students in Surrey high schools will get a chance to take online classes next school year, in the board's latest strategy to free up classroom space. "Hybrid learning is a blend of face-to-face and online learning for students and in our context, for kids in the senior Grades 10, 11 and 12," explained Perry Smith, assistant superintendent for Guildford-area schools. Exploring hybrid learning is motivated by a "capital crunch" trustee Bob Holmes says the district is facing, as student enrolment outpaces available school space. While the permanent implementation of hybrid classes would be new, students got a taste for the model during the pandemic years when schools were running classes virtually. As well, teachers became accustomed to the model and likely have learned lessons to improve on this time around, district staff suggested. "We identified many benefits of hybrid learning in our secondary schools," Smith said, pointing to research on the topic to support the claim. The superintendent explained that students will have a choice of going home for their online blocks, staying at school in shared spaces or being out in the community, for example, at a library. For those students who do not have access to internet services or personal electronic devices, technology will be provided so the opportunity is more inclusive, Smith said. He added that the district would receive a grant to make this possible. "While there is a side benefit for students to get ready for the 21st century, as previous speakers have mentioned, the reality is that this was driven because we have such a shortage of space," chair Gary Tymoschuk said. The issue of overcrowding in Surrey Schools can be seen at nearly every school, with trustee Laurie Larsen noting Walnut Road Elementary, that is set to receive a prefabricated module. "They have had one playground for 800 students because the other playground has been cordoned off, they have no greenspace, they have no adequate parking for parents, visitors or for staff. Staff are double parking so they all have to know which teacher is in front of them so they can let them know when they have to leave," Larsen said. The trustee added that prefabs do not provide everything. "We appreciate the modulars, I don’t want to say that we don’t but the modulars do only give the classroom," Larsen said. "They don’t give the gym space, they don’t give any extra outdoor space, they don’t give any library space and especially for the gym so in that school, they have to have three assemblies for every event.. because the gym is too small and the occupancy is just over 300 people." Walnut Road also has nine portables on school site and with the addition of the modulars, whether those portables will remain on site is still unknown. According to the board, affording to relocate the portables may be a challenge. Staff recommended for the board to approve the implementation of up to three senior level courses in a hybrid learning model at secondary schools as a trial for next school year, available on an optional basis. The board unanimously passed the motion.Liberty All-Star® Equity Fund November 2024 Monthly Update
The 26-year-old man charged in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO appeared in a Pennsylvania courtroom on Tuesday, where he was denied bail and his lawyer said he’d fight extradition to New York City, where the attack happened. Luigi Nicholas Mangione was arrested Monday in the Dec. 4 attack on Brian Thompson after they say a worker at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, alerted authorities to a customer who resembled the suspected gunman. When arrested, Mangione had on him a gun that investigators believe was used in the attack and writings expressing anger at corporate America, police said. As Mangione arrived at the courthouse Tuesday, he struggled with officers and shouted something that was partly unintelligible but referred to an “insult to the intelligence of the American people.” Mangione is being held on Pennsylvania charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. Manhattan prosecutors have charged him with five counts, including murder, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a forged instrument. Here are some of the latest developments: Wearing an orange jumpsuit, Mangione mostly stared straight ahead during the hearing, occasionally consulting papers, rocking in his chair, or looking back at the gallery. At one point, he began to speak to respond to the court discussion but was quieted by his lawyer. Judge David Consiglio denied bail to Mangione, whose attorney, Thomas Dickey, told the court that his client did not agree to extradition and wants a hearing on the matter. Blair County (Pennsylvania) District Attorney Peter Weeks said that although Mangione’s fighting extradition will create “extra hoops” for law enforcement to jump through, it won’t be a substantial barrier to sending him to New York. In addition to a three-page, handwritten document that suggests he harbored “ill will toward corporate America,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Monday that Mangione also had a ghost gun, a type of weapon that can be assembled at home and is difficult to trace. Officers questioned Mangione, who was acting suspiciously and carrying multiple fraudulent IDs, as well as a U.S. passport, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. Officers also found a sound suppressor, or silencer, “consistent with the weapon used in the murder,” she said. He had clothing and a mask similar to those worn by the shooter and a fraudulent New Jersey ID matching one the suspect used to check into a New York City hostel before the shooting, the commissioner said. Kenny said Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco and that his last known address is in Honolulu. Mangione, who was valedictorian of his Maryland prep school, earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a university spokesman told The Associated Press on Monday. Mangione comes from a prominent Maryland family. His grandfather Nick Mangione, who died in 2008, was a successful real estate developer. Mangione likely was motivated by his anger with what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain for corporate greed, said a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press. He wrote that the U.S. has the most expensive health care system in the world and that the profits of major corporations continue to rise while “our life expectancy” does not, according to the bulletin, which was based on a review of the suspect’s hand-written notes and social media postings. The defendant appeared to view the targeted killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO as a symbolic takedown and may have been inspired by “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski, whom he called a “political revolutionary,” the document said. Police said the person who killed Thompson left a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side at 5:41 a.m. on Dec. 4. Eleven minutes later, he was seen on surveillance video walking back and forth in front of the New York Hilton Midtown, wearing a distinctive backpack. At 6:44 a.m., he shot Thompson at a side entrance to the hotel, fled on foot, then climbed aboard a bicycle and within four minutes had entered Central Park, according to police. Another security camera recorded the gunman leaving the park near the American Museum of Natural History at 6:56 a.m. still on the bicycle but without the backpack, police said. After getting in a taxi, he headed north to a bus terminal near the George Washington Bridge, arriving at about 7:30 a.m. From there, the trail of video evidence ran cold. Police did not see video of the suspect exiting the building, leading them to believe he likely took a bus out of town. Police said they are still investigating the path the suspect took to Pennsylvania. “We’ll be working, backtracking his steps from New York to Altoona, Pennsylvania,” Kenny said. Get local news delivered to your inbox!