As the Richmond School District gets set to celebrate the work of teachers, administrators and students in the public education system, a dark cloud looms over its schools.
Already facing future budget restraints - such as increases to support staff wages, health benefit payments and utility rates not to mention lowering enrolment - school districts across the province, including Richmond, must now deal with an unprecedented court decision that could have even greater ramifications on next year's budget.
"The court ruling is looming over all of us. This is very substantial. We just hope that whatever happens education is fully funded," said Donna Sargent, chair of the Richmond Board of Education.
The B.C.
Supreme Court ruled late last month that the government had enacted unconstitutional legislation dating back to 2002 that removed class-size limits and class composition from the collective bargaining process with the BC Teachers Federation. In the same ruling, Justice Susan Griffin found that the government tried to incite a strike by the BCTF.
As such, Griffin ordered the government to reenact class size limits as well as several stipulations on class composition, particularly the number of special-needs students per class. Also, the teachers have regained the right to negotiate such conditions province-wide.
Education Minister Peter Fassbender told media last week that the ruling could cost $1 billion to implement.
Richmond's school district has some of the highest class sizes in the province and about 60 per cent of students do not speak English as their primary language at home.
Meanwhile the provincial government is presently appealing the decision and asking for a suspension of Griffin's orders until the appeal is heard.
During this process, Sargent and other school board trustees are tasked to draft a budget for the next school year.
"We are already at our limit. We cannot make any more cuts," said Sargent.
"The court ruling is the number one issue. It's so all encompassing and it really overshadows everything we are doing. It's substantial. ...We need both the government and teachers to get to the negotiating table," she said.
Sargent hopes there are no changes to the current budget as the two sides battle one another in the courts.
"It's a very confusing time and we're still going through the process. ...We're carrying on as if things are status quo. And we're really hopeful things will be status quo and we will be advocating for that," said Sargent.
While she could not give any specific numbers, other school districts in Metro Vancouver filed affidavits showing they would need to hire hundreds of teachers, costing them tens of millions of dollars.
Sargent said the same would be true in Richmond in order to reduce class sizes to 2002 levels. Aside from the costs of additional teachers' wages, it would mean more classrooms being used, which could affect programs that lease space in the schools. It could also mean more building costs.
Sargent said the problems the district are having with government funding is nothing new.
"I would say it's been a difficult time in ensuring that appropriate funding stays in education. The board has been advocating for 12 years
- since I've been a trustee - and it's been of continual importance. I think we've been underfunded for a very long time," she said.
Sargent noted that despite all the problems going on at the moment, it is important for parents to recognize the strides the district has made.
"The current state of public education in Richmond is pretty fantastic. The graduation rate is the third highest in the province. Is it everything it could be? No. But we continue as a board to advocate for the services we need," said Sargent Al Klassen, president of the Richmond Teachers Association, said just as much.
"The state of education as it relates to outcomes is that the system is still an excellent system; and that's somewhat surprising when you see the toll on the system over the last decade," said Klassen.
Exacerbating the problems is an apparent failure in communication between the government and the district and teachers. This was evidenced, said Klassen, when Fassbender emailed teachers across the province directly without consulting with districts, who are their employers. Fassbender was trying to defend his government's stance on the court case. Klassen said much of the information was wrong and Sargent felt he blamed school trustees for the 2002 legislation (school trustees opposed a province wide class limit).
"It's disrespectful. We are co-governors," said Sargent.
Klassen believes Fassbender has lost authority to manage the ministry and has tainted him as someone who can find a middle ground.
Still, both Sargent and Klassen hope the government and BCTF can reach a deal.
