Vancouver could close 10 schools

The Vancouver School Board is preparing to closeup to 10 schools,chair Patti Bacchus said on Thursday.

The names of the schools wouldn't be released until June 23, but no high schools would be closed, Bacchus said.

The board will only start preparing for the closures in the coming school year so that the schools can be closed for the following year, she said.

Bacchus said the district needs to close the schools in order to submit a balanced budget to Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid on Friday.

At a Vancouver news conference Thursday, Bacchus readout part of a letter the board will send with the budget.

"Minister, when you read this draft budget, you will see that the consequences of the Vancouver Board of Education's funding crisis are extreme."

The new budget will be essentially the same as the first one proposed by the board in April, before Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid stepped in and ordered the comptroller general to draft a special report on the board's financial troubles, she said.

But it will not follow all the comptroller general's recommendations, because that would not be in the best interest of students, Bacchus said.

"We don't believe the comptroller general's recommendations to close what would amount to a dozen elementary schools, make chidlcare unaffordable and cut off intervention to our neediest students could ever be in the best interest of children or parents."

Extreme cuts

The consequences of the cuts will be extreme and the board is still imploring the minister for more money, she said.

Some of the service cuts under consideration include cuts to counsellors and psychologists, and an end to a kindergarten program for 4-year-olds at three inner city schools.

The board has warned it is facing an $18 million shortfall because its expenses have been rising faster than its funding in recent years.

The comptroller general's report blamed a lack of long-term planning and financial mismanagement by the board for the district's budget shortfall.