News Orphaned owls released fo Peninsula home A shortage of good bams on the Lower Mainland to house owls is attracting the Owl (Orphaned Wildlife) Rehabilitation Society to the Saanich Peninsula, says Jon Rescorla. Thursday, the Ladner-based rehabilitation worker pulled into the driveway at a North Saanich farm to release four barn owls into the wild. All under one-year-old, the owls quickly flew into the tops of nearby trees. Rescorla is confident they will find their way onto a McTavish Road barn for a new lease on life. Three females and one male owl were released and Rescorla is hopeful that the male will pair with one female. McTavish Road resident Jean Fletcher called the owl centre after hearing about a need to find homes for orphaned owls. She has. had an aviary, raised show dogs and is a show dog judge. Rescorla said that at one time the society “had 40-odd barn owls and all were looking for homes. “The numbers of bars on the Lower Mainland are getting scarce. The second largest bam owl population in B.C. is on Van- couver island,” he said. The Lower Mainland has the largest population in Canada, although small numbers of them are found in Ontario. “There’s an ongoing struggle with the amount of habitat remain- ing,” he said. The four owls were released a few minutes apart, but Rescorla WINGS SPREAD, a barn owl is about fo fly into groves of trees in the 1600-block McTavish Road (above). The Owl (Orphaned Wildlife) Rehabilitation Society is hopeful the owls will find a new home in the Fletcher’s bam (right). GLENN WEeRKMAN photos would not hold one for photogra- phers, because a barn owl’s three- quarter-inch talons can pierce a welder’s glove. Two of the owls were found at a very young age inside a nest. Another was trying to nest in a steel-beam building under con- struction and needed to be moved. The society in Ladner takes the owls in and gives them a place to mature before releasing them into the wild. Persons wanting further information or wish to assist the non-profit organization can call 946-3171. District will provide buses for visiting students School buses will be provided to transport Mt. Newton Middle School students and 40 visiting Students from Quebec during the second half of an exchange pro- gram, trustees agreed recently. The Mt. Newton students visited Charlesbourg, just outside of Que- bec City, in February and early March. The Quebec students will visit Central Saanich from April 24 to May 1. Parent coordinator Arlene Anto- nik requested use of school buses to transport the students and adult supervisors on field trips during the exchange visit. Board members approved use of district school buses in principle, Funding given for quake study Brentwood School demon- strated the need and the province has kicked in with some help. An additional $20,000 in fund- ing to compléte a detailed review of the earthquake readiness of Peninsula schools was recently announced by Minister of Educa- tion Anita Hagen. “The health and safety of our children is a priority of the govern- ment,’ Hagen said. “We are addressing this priority with an extensive school upgrading pro- gram.” The need for earthquake readi- ness was emphasized at a recent Saanich school board meeting. In a letter sent to to the board and to Hagen, Brian Wood, presi- dent of Brentwood Elementary’s parents advisory council, said Brentwood parents raised the $5,500 required to install safety film on all exterior windows on the school. In case of an earthquake, the film would keep the glass win- dows from imploding-and spraying shards through classrooms. Wood noted some windows in the school have been broken since the film was installed. “The film has exceeded all expectations and kept the glass intact so that no shards of glass flew into the school. This was proof to us that the film will protect children and staff in the event of a severe earthquake,” Wood said. However, Wood said the dis- trict’s budget to replace broken windows does not include installa- tion of the safety film. He suggested the Ministry of Education should undertake a film installation program on windows in all schools which are in high- - risk areas. Tight squeeze for new school year Fitting the 187 school days required by the province into the traditional “bookends” of Labour Day and the last Friday in June will be a tight squeeze over the 1992-93 school year, Saanich Dis- trict superintendent Hank Stefa- niak told board members recently. With Labour Day falling on- Sept. 7 and the last Friday in June falling on June 25, the district has a shorter space in which to fit the required 187 instructional days plus six non-instructional days and four one-half days for parent- teacher interviews. “We may have to go sooner than Scpt. 8 or we may have to go longer than June 25 to fit in those days,” Stefaniak said, adding that extending into June is more likely than starting classes earlier in September. For the 1991-92 school year, Labour Day was on Sept. 2 and the last Friday in June is on June 26, giving plenty of room to fit in the required days. subject to availability of buses and drivers. Staff estimated providing the buses would cost the district $800. * ox Five $1,000 bursaries have just been created for students studying electronics at Camosun College, Saanich school board members were advised. 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