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JAN. 18, 2013 www.tricitynews.com
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Inquiry Hub kids getting personal with their learning By Diane Strandberg THE TRI-CITY NEWS
DIANE STRANDBERG/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Grade 9 students Hannah Brown, Sophia Draper and Shauna Turner are among the first 37 students enrolled in the Inquiry Hub program operating out of Millside school in Coquitlam. Students do part of their course work online, part face-to-face and work on projects that they are interested in. An information meeting on the program will be held Jan. 22 at the school.
School District 43 is piloting a new education program in which coming up with a question is as important as knowing the answer — and so far, the students seem to be loving it. What’s not to like about a high school that looks more like a lounge or a cafe than a typical classroom and where students set their own schedules for much of the day and work on projects mirroring their own interests? The Inquiry Hub program, established in September as part of the district’s own inquiry into what the muchvaunted “personalized learning” could look like, currently has 37 Grade 9 to 11 students enrolled. They hail from SD43 as well as Burnaby and New Westminster school districts. see CORE SUBJECTS, page 8
$7.5M in the hole, SD43 looks for cuts ‘Lost’ students & poor estimates behind deficit By Diane Strandberg THE TRI-CITY NEWS
A looming $7.5-million deficit has School District 43 scrambling to make $5 million in cuts to supply budgets, professional development help for teachers and discretionary spending to ward off a financial
crisis that could have an impact on Tri-City public school budgets for years to come. So far, it looks like there will be no staffing cuts but next year’s budget will be severely constrained unless expenses can be trimmed from now until the end of June. And the presidents of the Coquitlam Teachers’ Association and CUPE Local 561, which represents SD43 support staff, say they’re doubtful the
short-term fixes will be effective. On Tuesday, Teresa Grandinetti and Dave Ginter lambasted trustees for not doing their job and being fiscally accountable to taxpayers. “That is your responsibility,” Ginter, who represents support workers, told trustees, who were mostly silent when they received the news of the massive deficit. Ginter called planned cuts “chump change” that may not stem the bleeding.
“The shortfall is the board’s responsibility,” CTA president Grandinetti said, adding, “I don’t actually believe you are going to get $5 million in savings.” The revelation of the board’s financial situation, which had been circulating in the rumour mill for weeks, was provided by superintendent Tom Grant because the district is currently without a secretary treasurer. (Rick Humphreys resigned effective Jan. 1
School trustees are in charge. What do they have to say? See page 3 but board chair Melissa Hyndes would not confirm whether his departure was related to the financial crisis, saying he left for personal and medical reasons.)
THE PROBLEM
At Tuesday’s board of education meeting, Grant confirmed that the dis-
trict had a drop in enrolment of 223 students at the same time as it budgeted $3 million more for staff than its provincial funding allows. Other factors in the deficit, which leaves the district in dire financial straits, he explained, including the district receiving less income from inter-
national education and poor investment revenue, and having to pay hikes in benefits and utility fees. SD43’s current financial circumstances are a sea change from nine months ago, when trustees unanimously passed the richest budget in its history — $270.4 million — doling out extra funds for special needs students, counsellors and program expansions. see SUPT. WILL, page 3