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Friday, May 22, 2015
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VOL. 101 NO. 75
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CUPE 4990 questions raise AUTUMN MacDONALD Observer Reporter
Rites of spring This pair of osprey were tending their nest and raising their young as is the traditional spring activity. Karen Powell photo
Reaction to SD28 budget cuts AUTUMN MacDONALD Observer Reporter
with,” QDTA president Lisa Kishkan said. “Programs for kids are protected, and the lost teacher jobs can be attributed to declining enrollment. “We requested that management positions be looked at, and they were. We requested that building usage be looked at and it was. Overall, we feel like as a partner group we were listened to.” Kishkan did however note she felt the Provincial Standing Committee was not listened to. “They recommended that funding to education be increased. The provincial treasury opted not
The Quesnel District Teachers’ Association (QDTA) while disappointed over the recently released school budget, says it’s something “they can live with.” After School District 28 (SD28) released their 2015/16 budget, noting a shortfall of more than $900,000 and plans on how to recoup those costs, the QDTA points the finger at the provincial government for the board’s difficult budget decisions. “While the budget cuts are frustrating, this is a budget we can live
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to listen to this recommendation and school boards across the province, ours included, are facing the consequences.” In late April the board released an open letter to Minister of Education Peter Fassbender highlighting their disappointment regarding “the lack of education funding for 2015/16.” “Our district has continued to make the required cuts to our annual budget; however, we are past the point of being able to keep the cuts from impacting students,” the letter reads. To balance the budget the board made the
following adjustments: • phase out International Program $8,590; • eliminate 1.375 full time equivalent (FTE) managerial positions ($123,000); • reduction of 6.2 FTE teaching positions ($576,600); • reduction of .5 FTE custodial position ($21,590; • reduce equipment replacement – technology/school ($50,000); • consolidate learning resources software ($20,000); • decrease diesel fuel budget ($20,000); • relocate aboriginal education program ($4,220);
• reduction in purchase of carbon credits ($2,000). “We tried our best not to impact the classroom as much as we could,” board chair Tony Goulet said. “This was a very difficult budget, they always are.” “This is a government that is systematically stripping public services in order to save money,” Kishkan added. “Unfortunately, the people most affected are those who can least afford it, or who can’t speak out on their own behalf regarding government cuts – the poor, the unhealthy and the children.”
After many cuts to School District 28’s budget, CUPE 4990 president, Denice Bardua wants to know why the board voted in favour of a remuneration increase. “School District 28 Board of Education has said they were disappointed that the provincial budget falls short of expectations,” Bardua said. “The latest budget targets $29 million in cuts to administrative programs and an additional $25 million in 2016-17. “This budget follows more than a decade of underfunding of public education in B.C. No one knows exactly what impacts these cuts will have on our students and schools here in Quesnel, but it won’t be good. “That’s why I was shocked to learn that the board increased their own remuneration at a meeting, May 13, when it had already been defeated twice. That just seems wrong to me.” Voting in favour of a 0.9 per cent increase were trustees Dave Chapman, George Natalizio, Howie Schonke and Wendy Clement. Opposed were Tony Goulet, Gloria Jackson and Julie-Ann Runge. “We had to find $900,000 in savings, we’re cutting etc. But we’re giving ourselves a raise?” Goulet questioned. “It doesn’t resonate.” Bardua agrees, and says she “urges them to stand up to this provincial government and insist on increased funding for K-12 education, not to increase their own stipends.” Goulet said now that the decision is final he simply wants to move forward. “It passed,” he said. “So we’re moving forward. For me, it was the principle of it… bad timing.”
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