“I don’t know what options we have other than to scream as loud as we can because I don’t know how you can cut $1 million out of staff without having a significant impact on students’ education…The domino effect is huge.”-- School District chair Tina Last, expressing the boards frustrations at the pending tough decisions to come
Calls for the community to rally around education have been made by the School District 52 school board, that after the Board met to discuss some of the hard decisions that will be on the way with a need to make major cuts to the school district’s preliminary budget in June.
.
With little in the way of options in providing for the required funding for the District, staffing and other budget cuts are said to be on the horizon for School District 52, as the Prince Rupert school system faces a 2.1 million dollar budget shortfall for 2008-09…
( from the blog a town called podunk, click on the link below to see the entire article atowncalledpodunk.blogspot.com/2 … 7886 )-
yeap I knew it was coming. Drastic cuts deep and wide not the normal every year thing for the school board. This frigging Govt … do they have a clue what they are doing? Lets spend more money on the paths thru the tulips, cut the school budgets who needs new books or so what if there are 42 kids and one teacher to a class. SUCK IT UP!
I hope that the public can get organized and let Victoria know that this is not acceptable. I cant organize but I sure can yell and will show up at any rally as requested. I hope that the teachers will get out there and that lots will rally around them!
A great description. This is really out of the blue.
They cut a total of 15 Childcare Worker jobs, and at least three employees in the Maintenace dept will lose their job. They cut several Library Assistant jobs back to 60% of what they used to be any may more jobs got either cut or lost hours.
I’ve been working for the district for over 12 years, layoffs happen every year at the end of the school year, but this is the worst I’ve seen.
It will have a significant impact.
When the teachers got a pay raise at their last contract, the school boards across the provinces were promised by the powers that be in Victoria that the funds for the increments would not come from the boards allocated funds. Suprisingly enough last week the local board was informed that the deficeit would be 1.4 million the exact amount that the raises would cost. Lots of chat etc, bigwigs must have heard the rumbles cause now today the amount is 2 million. Yet we magically have 300 million for a new retractable roof for BC PLACE. Don’t get me wrong I am a sports fan have kids in hockey/socceer etc but where the hell is the common sense of this buffons. I am not a teacher and don’t work in the school system but even to me I just can’t see the logistics of losing 18+ teachers and 36-40 support staff ( ie child care workers) the kids are here we aren’t losing kids, we have closed two schools and the kids will be sardines in most cases … how the hell can one teacher be expected to teach 25-30 kids and 7-10 who made be special needs and or learning assisted?? Absolutely boogles the mind it does. I hope that when the press release hits the papers that everyone who has kids/grandkids in school or who works in the schools or just in principle thinks this stinks and makes noise so that the boobleheads lead by our idiotic DUI premier Campbell will make their voices heard.!