School Closure
BC's Education Brownout
Today's opinion piece in the Tyee explains why school board budgets are not keeping up with costs. To view The Centre For Civic Governance's detailed look at school board budgeting, click here.British Columbians Back School Trustees in Fight for More Funding
According to a recent Angus Reid poll, nearly 80% of British Columbians support increased funding for public schools. Read Vancouver Sun article here.
School Boards Around B.C. Plead Poverty
The Vancouver School Board is not the only school district having difficulty meeting budget shortfalls. Across the Province, school boards are contemplating school closures, layoffs and reductions in classroom support for students. Read article in The Province here.Vancouver Board to Lay Off Dozens of Staff, Close School, Drop 10 Days
The Vancouver School board is expecting it will have to lay off dozens of staff, close a school and reduce the school year by 10 days in order to create a balanced budget. Read Globe and Mail article here.
For a more thorough understanding of school board budgeting in BC, download:
When More is Less: Education Funding in BC, a report by the Centre For Civic Governance.
Vancouver Challenges Margaret MacDiarmid's Facts
BC Education Minister, Margaret MacDiarmid has argued that while School boards complain of deficits they often wind up with surpluses in the end. But, as Vancouver School Board Chair Patti Bacchus has made clear, the surplus disappears when all expenses are paid out. Read Janet Steffenhagen's blog here.
No additional cash for 33 of 60 BC school districts
But, as the ministry points out, it also means no loss of money despite fewer students.
BC School Closures: A Cure Worse Than the Disease
The number shut by BC's Liberals is 176 and climbing, but here's why the savings will likely prove a mirage.
Forty-four of B.C.'s 60 school districts have closed 176 schools since 2002, and over 50 more closures are certain or threatened over the next couple of years. But demographic projections suggest that closures are a short-term solution that will create a long-term problem.
School districts warn of teacher layoffs and school closures
The Vancouver school district issued layoff warnings Tuesday to hundreds of teachers, while Prince George trustees began a difficult discussion about the possible closure of 13 elementary, middle and secondary schools.Around the province, school officials say they will enter 2010-11 budget deliberations with trepidation because small increases in provincial education grants are expected to be insufficient to cover the rising cost of teacher salaries, pensions, medical service premiums, BC Hydro and carbon neutrality.
North Vancouver School Board Contemplates $3 Million in Cuts
North Shore Outlook April 8, 2009Windsor House, Plymouth and one other small school could be on the chopping block as the North Vancouver School District addresses a $3-million shortfall facing the 2009/2010 budget.
School Lands Bylaw in Cowichan Valley
On May 14, 2008 the Cowichan Valley Regional District passed bylaw amendments that restrict the use of school lands, in the hopes of discouraging school closures. The bylaws prevent the sale of school lands for private development in order to keep the lands for public use. Read an article from the Vancouver Sun about the role parents played in getting the bylaw amendments passed or click here to read an article about the impact the new bylaws will have on smaller communities.
