A rroad for ‘M Mr. Surrey’ ‘Mr.
Soccer squads off ff to ips B.C. championships
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Thursday May 22, 2014
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No classes in Delta on Wednesday or Surrey on Thursday
Rotating school strikes start next week
Wild ride A saddle bronc rider gets jolted right at the gate during competition at the Cloverdale Rodeo and Country Fair on May 17. For more photos from the event, see page 33. BOAZ JOSEPH / THE LEADER
by Tom Fletcher THE B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) plans to start one-day rotating strikes at B.C. schools next week, with Delta’s public schools closed Wednesday and Surrey classes cancelled Thursday. The move signals the BCTF’s rejection of a six-year contract offer made by provincial negotiators last week that offered teachers a $1,200 signing bonus if an agreement is reached by the Jim Iker end of the school year, or a wage cut if job action continues. BCTF President Jim Iker said Tuesday the bonus doesn’t make up for the government’s wage offer of 6.5 per cent over six years. A simultaneous threat to cut teacher wages five per cent or more because of strike action is “just so disrespectful, so unnecessary, and we’ll be dealing with it at the Labour Relations Board,” Iker said. See TEACHERS’ STRIKE / Page 3
$8.5M deficit for Surrey schools District wants province to cover $4.5-million cost for portables by Sheila Reynolds THE SURREY School District is facing a budget
shortfall of about $8.5 million for the upcoming
school year – a figure officials say could be cut in half if the province would cover the more than $4 million the district is forced to spend on portables. Trustee Terry Allen said the anticipated operating deficit means cuts will have to be made “across the board” in Surrey and could potentially impact supply budgets, programs, services and staffing. “The instructions are to make them (cuts)
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as far away from the classroom as possible, but there’s nothing that we provide that isn’t classroom driven,” said Allen. He said trustees met with local MLAs two weeks ago, but instead of “hammering away” at them over the general shortage of operating funding, which most districts are also facing, they focussed on the millions Surrey spends on portables annually. See SURREY / Page 9
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