Vancouver Board Chairwoman Patti Bacchus said Thursday that the board has completed a final draft balanced budget for the provincial education minister to review, but warned that consequences would be “extreme” for students and schools.
“The results of implementation of this budget will inevitably cause great distress to Vancouver students, parents, school staff and the general public as programs are eliminated, teachers, administrators and support staff lose their jobs, and the high quality of Education is regrettably harmed”.
Ms. Bacchus said the board is also considering school closures. But those closures - and the related cost savings that would result - would not come into effect until the 2011-2012 school year. Ms. Bacchus would not say which schools, or how many, could be closed, but said the total would be “fewer than 10”.
B.C. education minister Margaret MacDiarmid ordered the board to file a draft budget to her before voting on it.
In April the minister appointed a special advisor to review the Vancouver School Board’s finances, saying the board appeared “unable or unwilling” to manage its budget in the best interests of students.
The advisor’s report, written by B.C. comptroller-general Cheryl Wenezenki-Yolland and released early this month, concluded the board’s financial problems could have been avoided if the board had managed its funds differently.
The report identified more than $11-million worth of proposals the board could take to save costs and generate funds, including boosting rental fees paid by childcare groups that operate on school properties.
Ms. Wenezenki-Yolland also criticized the board for being concerned with advocacy at the expense of managing its budget.
For months leading up to the appointment of the special advisor, Vancouver board chair Patti Bacchus repeatedly said that deep, damaging cuts would be required to balance the district’s budget and called on the province to provide more money for public education.
In response to the special advisor’s report, Ms. Bacchus said most of the proposals identified in the review were under way or being considered and said that it did nothing to improve the district’s financial situation.
