BUDGET PLANS
Plans for this year's budget process are in the works. At a Tuesday, Feb. 28, night plenary finance and legal committee meeting, members were to talk about the budget timeline. The discussion took place after the Courier's deadline, so dates may not be finalized, but the report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which was hired to review the district's finance and come up with budget proposals, was slated to be presented to the public at a March 7 meeting.
The district management team and trustees will review the suggestions, which may form part of preliminary budget proposals.
Preliminary 2012/13 budget proposals were set to be released April 10, stakeholder consultation was set for April 17, and public input was planned for April 19. Revised proposals were scheduled for release on April 24, with further stakeholder and public input collected on April 25. Final deliberations and adoption of the 2012/13 budget was set for April 30.
The VSB has been projecting a $14 million shortfall, but that could drop to about $9 million if an anticipated surplus from the current school year is applied to the shortfall.
District staff will provide the committee with an updated shortfall projection on March 26 after the provincial government's March 15 grant announcement.
STRIKE TALK
As the Courier went to press Tuesday morning, the Labour Relations Board decision on a request by the B.C. Teachers' Federation to allow teachers to withdraw instruction for eight days over a two-week period had not been released. The union needs strike approval from the LRB.
A hearing was held Monday night. The provincial government is expected to introduce legislation this week, to put an end to the job action. Check the Courier website for up-to-date information and reaction on the LRB decision and government legislation.
As of Tuesday morning, some stu-dents were trying to organize a province-wide student walkout "to show the provincial government that we care about our education," according to a Facebook event page. The notice called for the walkout between 2 to 5 p.m., March 2, with a gathering at the Art Gallery. I asked Leah Bae, president of the Vancouver District Students' Council, what students were saying about a student walkout in Vancouver. "There are many different stances on this. Some students feel this is completely inefficient as well as disrespectful/rude to the teachers and does not support their goals at all, while others believe that a somewhat rebellious walkout is the true way to take a bold stance," she told the Courier in an email.
"From what I've observed so far, many of the students I've spoken with seem to side with the BCTF, but definitely not all. There are some who say they've had enough with the strike- they share the views that seem to be expressed by quite a few parents."
COLOUR ME PINK
Many Vancouver students are wearing pink today, Feb. 29, to mark national Pink Shirt Day to combat bullying. The Vancouver District Students' Council is also calling for more provincial action to end bullying in schools, particularly against lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgendered youth. The group has written a letter to Premier Christy Clark.
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