In a conference call Friday morning, B.C. Minister of Education Mike Bernier told reporters he’s disappointed the Vancouver School Board failed to deliver a balanced budget despite the best efforts of some trustees, and he’s also disappointed the board is putting partisan politics ahead of the needs of students.
Bernier added that firing the board is the “absolute last option” and he won’t make any “quick decisions.”
Trustees voted 5-4 against the motion to adopt the proposed budget at a school board meeting Thursday night at Gladstone secondary school. It included deep cuts to educational services and the removal of the 30-student cap on secondary school class sizes. The vote was split along party lines with the four Non-Partisan Association trustees in support of the proposed budget and the four Vision Vancouver trustees and lone Green Party trustee united against it.
Bernier told reporters the decision is the latest in a long line of questionable financial decisions by the board to allocate money where it isn’t needed instead of where it will do the most good.
“It seems to be a continued choice by the board to take $37 million of services to students and they’re flowing that money into keeping empty seats open across the district,” Bernier said. “I’ve toured some of the schools and I’m very proud of what’s happening in those schools, and I don’t understand why the Vancouver board continues to threaten to cancel these amazing programs for our students. Vancouver should be enhancing the learning experiences for all the students, not protecting empty seats in the schools.”
The minister said he hadn’t made any decision about whether or not to fire the board, alluding to a myriad of options at his disposal but not elaborating on what those might be. He said he plans to sit down with VSB chair Mike Lombardi in Victoria next week in order to discuss what the next step for the board might be.
“My hope, and I hope and I assume that it’s parents’ and Vancouver’s hope, is that we’re making good financial decisions, we’re making sure money is flowing into the great programs that we have, that those programs will continue to be enhanced, and that the students in the Vancouver school district, like every student across British Columbia, will continue to get the great education that we provide here in the province,” Bernier said. “When you have all of the other districts who are making some very smart financial decisions that are actually benefitting the students, I’m looking forward to helping the Vancouver school board do the exact same thing.”
Bernier said that he hopes to avoid replacing the board, as locally elected trustees have a better understanding of the unique needs of their district.
“The reason why we have school trustees and school boards is because they understand the dynamics, they understand the needs and the wants of the families in their district. And the reason why we have those is so we don’t have one cookie-cutter approach to decision making in Victoria, because every part of the province is different,” Bernier said. “So the Vancouver School Board’s job, the trustees’ job, what they ran [on] and what their oath says, is that they will be respectful of the taxpayers’ dollars in British Columbia and make the best decisions they can to make sure they have the best educational opportunities for the students in their area. And so there’s a half-billion dollars flowing back into the Vancouver School Board where they have the opportunities of how to meet the needs of the students in their area.”
The minister acknowledged that several districts in the province are grappling with funding issues, but said there’s no one specific cause for their troubles. However, he did say that many districts including Vancouver are facing declining enrolment, and that the money saved by those boards could be invested in other areas of the province where schools are overcrowded.
Last week, school trustees in Surrey asked city council to put a moratorium on development in three neighbourhoods where schools are at capacity. Currently, there are about 70,000 students in that district, and the board is anticipating 1,000 new students next year, however trustees said they have nowhere to put them.
“When you look at Surrey… we have an opportunity to spend money helping Surrey in a growing area and we want to be able to do that. We want to be able to invest capital in new schools,” Bernier said. “Vancouver is in a completely different situation than most other districts in the Lower Mainland. They’re down approximately 6,300 students in that district, and in the meantime they’re funding has gone up $74 million dollars since 2001.”
So it’s really, when you look at the fact over the last couple of years, and that’s back to my point or questions, is what decisions have the board not made that could have been made that would have avoided last night’s decision.”
@jameswesmith
