VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - The Comptroller General's report into the Vancouver School Board's financial situation is 'flawed and unfair,' those words are from education experts brought in by the NDP.
Chak Au with the Richmond School District says the VSB's problems aren't unique and that school boards province-wide are struggling with $250 million in shortfalls. "It cannot be the case that all 60 school boards in the province are lacking in capacity in managing their money."
Three former inner-city school principals agree, so does SFU's former Dean of Education. Programs for students with disabilities, ESL, junior kindergarten and food services are all on the chopping block.
Former trustee Noel Herron calls the Comptroller General's report "regressive, out of touch and punitive."
Earlier this morning at Lord Strathcona School in East Vancouver there was a last minute gathering of parents, stakeholders and politicians protesting the report.
The VSB is struggling with a nearly $17 million budget shortfall and has until Friday to balance those numbers. The report, ordered by the province, suggested the VSB's budget problems could have been avoided. The Vancouver School Board responded saying the report wasn't worth the paper it was written on.