VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - The Vancouver School Board says it's caught between parents, principals, and the Ministry of Education, when it comes to Foundation Skills Assessment tests. The VSB now wants out of the dispute.
But Chair Patti Bacchus knows that will be tough to do after a letter went home from the ministry urging parents to have their children take part in the testing.
She says schools are required to submit FSAs, but many parents don't want their kids writing them. "So, we don't want to be in the situation where of having an argument with our parents over something our educators are telling us is not of value to them. We'd rather not be part of this dispute."
Principals and vice-principals add the tests aren't working and the dispute isn't going anywhere, so it's time to move on. "This seems to be both sides dug in. We don't seem to be making progress. Certainly in Vancouver, we've heard from our parents through our district Parent Advisory Council that parents want to make their own decisions about this."
Bacchus explains it's frustrating dealing with the same issue every year.