After months of anguish over a multi-million dollar shortfall, the Vancouver School Board adopted its 2010/2011 budget Wednesday night reflecting more than $16 million in staff and program cuts.

“It’s very grim. It’s weighing very heavily. I can tell you I didn’t sleep last night thinking about all the many ways this is going to affect the district. This doesn’t reflect our values. This doesn’t reflect our idea of what the Vancouver school system should look like,” board chair Patti Bacchus said Thursday morning.

The district had faced a $17.23 million shortfall, but the board shaved about a million off that figure by being less conservative in its revenue estimates—as suggested in comptroller general Cheryl Wenezenki-Yolland’s special adviser report.

Bacchus, a Vision Vancouver trustee, said the board hopes the million dollars will be covered by funds held back by the province each year until enrolment is confirmed. Failing that, the VSB has money in its capital reserve account that it could use if the money held back doesn’t materialize.

The extra million dollars is being used to pay for staff positions and programs that were slated for cuts in the preliminary budget, such as a teacher psychologist position, multi-cultural workers, area counsellors and mini schools.

Vision trustee Mike Lombardi calls it “the MacDiarmid budget.”

“No member of the board is happy about this budget. It does not reflect the values of our board,” he said.

The budget was passed after weeks of well-publicized conflict between the VSB and Ministry of Education over education funding. The board argues the system has been chronically underfunded and forced districts to make massive cuts, while Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid insists the VSB has enough money but fell into a financial crisis thanks to mismanagement and poor decisions.

MacDiarmid spoke to reporters Wednesday afternoon, before the VSB’s budget was adopted. She said she was “very disappointed” few of the comptroller general’s recommendations were taken into consideration in the draft budget she reviewed and suggested there were areas where at least $1 million in savings could be achieved. The education ministry plans to monitor the board’s progress on implementing the comptroller general’s recommendations, including requiring regular financial reporting to the ministry and development of a long-term strategic plan that “ensures resources are appropriately managed to the benefit of students and will avoid the kind of fiscal situation the board’s actions created this year,” according to a letter to Bacchus from MacDiarmid.

MacDiarmid said she wasn’t prepared to fire the board.

“Obviously it’s an elected board as they pointed out—they were democratically elected. We have a situation here where it’s very clear from the School Act and the regulations that they have a very significant stewardship role and yet they view that their role is largely one of advocacy,” she said.

“Yes we can fire them, but I’m not contemplating doing that at this time. Looking at the comptroller general’s report and recommendations of governing, one thing is very clear—we need to do some work ourselves. We’ve got a School Act and regulations that we believe make it incumbent upon schools to govern and to provide stewardship, to work within budgets that are provided. But this system does not seem to be working now.”

noconnor@vancourier.com