The Ministry of Education giveth and it taketh away. And, it giveth again.
The Richmond School District will not be forced to cut nearly $900,000 from its budget, as previously planned, after Minister of Education Mike Bernier announced Tuesday it rescinded a plan to claw back $25 million from school administration province wide.
School trustee Ken Hamaguchi said the timing of the announcement may have to do with public outcry and a looming election.
“I’m glad to see parents speaking out. Trustees have constantly been going after the government, questioning the administration cuts. Not (a lot has) happened, but now with the election coming up, parents are voters and it’s important they’re stepping up,” said Hamaguchi.
“This is money that they took away and now they gave it back. It’s not new money. We planned to lose it but now we don’t have to,” said Hamaguchi.
Richmond was faced with a $4.2 million deficit for 2016/17, but will now only have to cut about $3.3 million.
Hamaguchi said he is still in favour of taking $2 million from an approximate $9.8 million operating surplus the district has. That means still finding $1.3 million to cut. Half of that figure will come in the form of teaching positions ($660,000), ergo the board would still need to find $640,000 of savings.
Among its options at an upcoming board meeting Monday evening at 7 p.m. are: School supplies, learning service positions, a vice-principal position, works yard staff and business assistants.
The board could vary how much it takes from its surplus although with annual budgets exceeding $180 million, secretary treasurer Mark De Mello has warned there is little wiggle room for cost overruns.
