Vancouver teachers and support staff facing fresh cuts
Posted May 14, 2016 12:01 pm.
Last Updated May 14, 2016 1:04 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – More teachers and support staff are facing the axe after another round of cuts from the Vancouver School Board. This comes after the VSB rejected a budget in April that featured a $24 million shortfall.
The Vancouver School Board is eliminating 167 positions while it continues to negotiate a final budget with the education minister.
VSB Chair Mike Lombardi says there will be 37 fewer teaching positions next year, but no teachers will be laid off, while 130 people currently working in support staff positions could lose their jobs.
He remains hopeful the education minister will be willing to negotiate a better deal for schools. “Our students are behind us, our parents are behind us, our teachers are behind us and now our MLA’s are behind us in Vancouver. We met with all of them and now it is time for the minister to follow through with the next steps that we agreed to at our meeting on May 3rd.”
Lombardi believes these cuts will have a devastating impact on classrooms. “As you know our parents told us the cuts are unacceptable. It means the elimination of band and strings teachers, it means the elimination of 23 additional secondary teachers and additional five non-enrolling elementary teachers.”
A budget needs to be in place by June 30th.
