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Vancouver School Board grapples with $27-million budget shortfall

Literacy, special needs, fine arts, substance abuse prevention programs hardest hit by proposed cuts
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The VSB votes on the budget April 28. It must deliver a balanced budget for next year that addresses a projected funding shortfall of $27.26 million. Photo Dan Toulgoet

The mood was sombre Thursday night as details of the Vancouver School Board's preliminary 2016/17 budget were shared with stakeholders.

As superintendent of schools Scott Robinson and secretary-treasurer Russell Horswill went down the list of proposed cuts at the meeting of the VSB’s plenary committee, the room was deathly quiet save for the occasional gasp or exasperated chuckle.

The board votes on the budget April 28. It must deliver a balanced budget for next year that addresses a projected funding shortfall of $27.26 million.

The cuts made in the proposed budget would provide the district with $7.51 million in administration, $2.49 million in facilities and $17.26 million in educational savings.

Specialized positions and programs are among the hardest hit by the proposed cuts, including those focused on literacy, special needs, fine arts, career planning, substance abuse prevention and English language learning.

One proposal that elicited an immediate reaction was allowing non-exempted secondary school classes to exceed the 30-student limit set out in the School Act, a move that is predicted to save the district approximately $3 million.

It's a proposal that Rory Brown, president of the Vancouver Secondary Teachers’ Association, said can’t help but negatively impact students.

“This is truly the most sad and depressing turn of events to see that the underfunding from the provincial level has gotten us to the point where we now go past that threshold of 30 students per classroom in secondary schools,” said Brown. “There are a number of brutal cuts to student services through this budget, and I think the one that sticks out for us in the most horrendous way is this.”

“Teachers in Vancouver, and the system in Vancouver, do an incredible job of educating kids. It is a great system, but the reality of it is it’s not the system that it used to be,” he added. “What needs doing is the province needs to step up and put their money where their mouth is and fund education at least to the level it was funded in 2002.”

In an emailed statement to the Courier, B.C.'s minister of education Mike Bernier put the blame squarely on the VSB. He said the board started the school year with more than $24 million in accumulated operating surplus, and that similar budget concerns last year lead his predecessor Peter Fassbender to have financial firm Ernst and Young audit the district's books.

"It’s disappointing to see the VSB’s continued pattern of delivering an interim budget that predicts yet another large deficit," Bernier said in his email. "This goes against key recommendations from the audit which noted releasing interim budget estimates 'is significantly misleading' to the public. Since 2009/10 the VSB has predicted deficits — yet in the same time period has ended up growing its surplus by almost $17 million."

The minister continued, "In the face of record funding from the province, VSB’s failure to deal with under-capacity schools over the years means taxpayers are paying an extra $37 million a year funding empty seats instead of education.  The VSB also received an [sic] $2 million this year in ‘funding protection’ to help them deal with declining enrollment."

According the VSB's updated restoration budget, which was also released on Thursday, the proposed 2016/17 budget is $82 million below that of 2002/03 when adjusted for inflation, salary increments, collective agreement increases, changes to employee benefits and changes in enrolment.

VSB chairperson Mike Lombardi called the document a sad commentary on the state of provincial leadership on education matters. He added that the restoration budget is intended to dispel myths that are propagated by some people on social media and within the educational system.

“We keep hearing these lies about highest per pupil funding ever [and] the best system in the world,” Lombardi said. “Well, we do have a damn good system. We’ve got a world-class system because of the dedication and commitment of teachers and administrators and support staff, not from the crap of per pupil funding by the government.”

“If there was ever a document to propel some advocacy by teachers, by trustees, by parents, this document tells it clearly,” he said. “We basically need more than 600 teachers and $14 million worth of supplies to make up to where we were in 2002. That is shameful.”

Warren Williams, president of CUPE local 15, said he’s disgusted by the “travesty” of the provincial government’s handling of education funding.

“Since [the B.C. Liberals] have been in power, we’ve had deficit budgets every year,” said Williams. “History has shown that uneducated people, they get taken advantage of. That’s how I view this lack of funding by the provincial government — as just a means to keep people ignorant so they can’t stand up and say ‘Hey, wait a minute, what are you doing?’”

Williams said the only way the situation will improve is if the people of B.C. rally together and decide en masse they need a change in government.

“Myself, as a union leader, I’ve been pounding that drum for a number of years now, and we’re not being heard,” Williams said. “The citizens of British Columbia need to stand up and say enough is enough.”

The public will get the chance to weigh in on the proposed budget on Tuesday, April 12 at 7 p.m. at a location to be determined.

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@jameswesmith