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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1990 -

Follow the lead of our mayor and you can forget about pulling the plug. If
you take a fire axe to your TV the only way you cann fall off the wagon is if
you go out and invest in another set... a major deterrent. Above, Mary

Vol. 6, Issue No. 6

Phone 635-7840 —
Fax 635-7269

Swift of the Northwest Community College English Department watches
mayor Jack Talstra as he prepares to destroy the only television set in the

Terrace fire department. Pull the Plug Week is from Feb. 5 to 11.

Block funding blindsides trustees

TERRACE — School trustees,
administrators. and teachers
were left scratching their heads
last week after an announcement

“by the Minister of Education:

that the way school districts
receive their financing has been
‘drastically changed.

Tony Brummet told a meeting
of school representatives in
Richmond Jan. 31 that the
authority to levy property taxes
has been removed from school
_poards — unless the taxes are
approved through a referendum.

School District 88 trustees and
other boards through B.C. are
now left to wonder how much
‘money they'll have to spend just
as they’re beginning to draft the
1990-91 budget.’

The new system is called block
funding. The ministry has taken
the gross expenditure in public
-education from 1989-90, divided

‘jt by the number of pupils

enrolled and will return the
money to local boards according
to their enrolments. In his an-
nouncement Brummet said an
“economic adjustment” of $305

per student has been added to

recognize cost increases for the
coming year, but he later
qualified that by saying that the
distribution to
districts would follow the old
fiscal framework formula. His
statement has created an at-
mosphere of uncertainty in
which local boards are attempt-
ing to draft their budgets.
Brummet also took a swipe at

trustees, implying that the pro- |

vincial government had to take
contro] because school boards
had failed to use their taxation
powers responsibly and account-
ably. He hinted at an impending
“tax revolt’ over rising prop-

individual

erty taxes.

Edna Cooper, chairman of
the Terrace school board, ex-
pressed ‘“‘disappointment”’ at
Brummet’s announcement, say-
ing it showed a misunder-
standing of the school system
and the reason that the costs of
education have gone up. ‘‘He’s
blaming the boards, but we’re
having to deal with issues like
the right of all students to be in-
tegrated into regular classes,
more assistance from psycholo-
gists, speech pathologists and
other professionals, equipment,
smaller class sizes; teacher burn-
out, more teacher time, the need
for school-based committees...”’

Cooper also noted that the
province allowed teachers to
unionize and then left it to the

boards to deal with the ensuing —

expense of contract settlements.
She said her understanding of

Brummet’s statement is that
District 88 will get its 1989-90
budget amount plus six percent
for the coming year. She ex-
pressed apprehension about the

‘timing involved, noting that the

district won’t receive detailed in-
formation on financing from the
ministry until the last week in
February. The preliminary
budget has to go to Victoria for
approval no later than March
15. The final budget has to be
ratified by the board by April
15. If a referendum is required,
the government will set a
province-wide date between
April | to 8.

There is also the matter of the
budget year for the school
board. It goes from September
to June, but if a referendum is
required the tax collected would
be on the municipal tax year,
which runs from January to

December. fe

Referendum funds cannot b
used for any long-term pro-
grams because the taxes levied
can only be collected for one
year. Extending the levy would
require another vote the follow-
ing year.

Cooper also wonders about
negotiations with the Terrace
District Teachers’ Association,
which could begin as soon as
March. ‘“‘What happens if we
negotiate for a level higher than
the block, go to the taxpayers,
and they reject it?”? She noted
that teachers are calling for
more support and smaller
classes, and the federal Goods
and Services Tax, proposed to
be effective in January 1991, will
also have an effect..The school
district is exempt, but it will in-

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