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CHAD HIPOLITO/The Canadian Press
Several school districts in B.C. are facing multimillion-dollar budget shortfalls, partly driven by a plunge in enrolment from international students because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The number of international students has been cut by half in several school districts, leaving them short of millions of dollars in lost revenue as they are looking at their budgets for the new school year.
by Patti Bacchus on April 15th, 2021 at 2:06 PM 1 of 5 2 of 5
You’ve got to be kidding me.
After a year of hearing schools are essential to students’ well-being and absolutely must stay open during the deadly pandemic, several B.C. school boards are finding themselves
millions of dollars short in their budgets for the 2021-22 school year.
We’ve heard it over and over again: students need the supports they get at school as much as they need the academic instruction. Many rely on school meal programs and support from counsellors and education assistants. Yet many of those supports are on the chopping block.
School boards must come up with a balanced budget every year. Howe said teachers want to know “how have we ended up, all of a sudden, with this huge deficit, which is totally devastating.” School board chair Jordan Watters said while there are a number of things on the list of possible cuts, nothing has been decided. “We’ve got a ways to go in the process, that’s for sure, and really are just in the midst of consultation so hearing lots of voices.” The proposed music cuts, which attracted a student-led protest, target programs that can help students stay connected to school from the elementary to the secondary level. Cutting music doesn’t fit with the district’s strategic plan, Howe said.
Judith Millar Vaccine’s danger vs. other risks we face Like most residents in B.C. (or the world) I am an interested observer of the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations in B.C. I agree with the initial age-based priorities for seniors, and the recently changed priorities to hotspots and front-line workers. What is causing me most recent concern is the delay in vaccination due to what appears to be very rare issues of blood clot complications in an environment where people continue to die in much greater numbers from COVID due to this disease. And in the meantime we are killing our economy and putting thousands, if not millions, of Canadians out of work.