The Vancouver School Board says it's poised to lay off dozens of staff, close at least one school and shave up to 10 days from the school year, citing an $18.1-million shortfall that it blames entirely on the provincial government.
"It's gut-wrenching because I don't believe it's necessary," board chairwoman Patti Bacchus said Tuesday.
The Vancouver board - the second largest in British Columbia - is the latest district to threaten layoffs and school closings. Last week, the Richmond board warned that up to 100 teachers, assistants and administrators could lose their jobs. In Prince George, officials have voted to close six schools.
The Vancouver board will receive $447-million from the province for the 2010-11 school year, but Ms. Bacchus said provincial funding has not kept pace with rising labour and pension costs. In addition, boards must now pay for provincially mandated energy-efficiency requirements for buildings and vehicles.
"They make the deals, but they don't fund the deals," Ms. Bacchus said.
The board will likely look at closing one school and dropping about 10 days from the school calendar, but those two measures would save only about $2-million.
The bulk of Vancouver's operating budget comes from labour costs, Ms. Bacchus said. So the only way to balance the budget is to drastically reduce staff. Those targeted are teachers and assistants who work with special education and English-as-a-second-language students, she said.
"That's where the money is," she said. "Ninety-two per cent of our budget is salaries and benefits, so all those savings on school days and closings, they bring a bit, but the bulk of our budget is spent on people."
The positions to be eliminated will be identified at a budget meeting wednesday night. After that, the board will hold a series of public meetings. Trustees will vote on the cuts April 29.
Ms. Bacchus said vulnerable children will suffer if ESL and special-education teachers and assistants are cut. About 8 per cent of B.C. students have special needs, which include emotional and mental delays, autism and physical disabilities.
She said the forced cuts are more galling given that billions of dollars were spent on hosting the Winter Olympics.
"We just had a multibillion-dollar party in this city," she said. "We saw investing in excellence. We celebrated our athletes. We were proud. We'd invested in them. They had the very best of access and they performed. Why can't we do that for the children of this province? I really do believe we will pay for this down the road."
But the province has pushed back at school districts that blame the government for their budget shortfalls.
An Education Ministry spokesman said the province has increased per-pupil funding in recent years, and said the boards' budget pressures are likely due to declining enrolment.
The government this year added $112-million to its $4.6-billion operating budget for B.C. school boards despite fewer students. Enrolment has been declining in the province since the mid-1990s and is expected to decrease further until 2015. Since 2001, enrolment has dropped by 53,000 students, according to ministry statistics.
Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid has suggested the Vancouver school board is crying wolf. For years, the board has routinely projected multimillion-dollar deficits, the minister said. But in the last decade those projected deficits have turned into surpluses nearly every year.
Vancouver trustee Jane Bouey said she and her colleagues will try to keep layoffs to a minimum.
"It's people who work closely with kids with special needs, people that support [ESL students] people who work in our inner-city schools," she said. "Those are the people that are most in jeopardy in this budget. I just think it's an indefensible position to be put in as a board."