Just when you think Vancouver cannot go more crazy in a bad way, the news comes out that the VSB is proposing to cut vice-principals in some schools in order to balance its books:"The Vancouver School Board is facing a $7.13 million dollar short fall. This follows many years of cuts. School Boards are obligated by provincial law to balance our budgets. Thus, our board has met with Vancouver MLA's such as Premier Campbell, letting them know our situation and the type of cuts we are facing...." quote from email sent to me by Jane Bouey,Trustee and Vice Chairperson,Vancouver School Board,1580 W. BroadwayVancouver, BC V6J 5K8 Phone: (604) 876-4123 e-mail: jane.bouey@vsb.bc.cahttp://www.vsb.bc.ca/
Inaction is no longer an option.
Be the Change You Want to See in Vancouver
From: Zoë
Please vote AGAINST budget cuts for General Gordon. Please keep General Gordon's V-P Noreen MorrisHello. My name is Zoë Lewis and I have a Grade 6 daughter who is attending Late French Immersion at General Gordon Elementary. I have just discovered that the Vice-Principal of General Gordon, Noreen Morris, is at risk of losing her job. Please do not do this. This is a school that actually functions: a school where administrators and teachers and the community work together; a school where they keep saying "yes" to enriching programs and activities even when that means longer hours for them; a school where the administration is hard-working and responsive; a school where the principal and vice-principal are out of their offices, in the halls; a school where the administration knows all of the children's names. General Gordon is a school where students require and deserve a full allotment of administration. General Gordon is part of the solution!
Please do the right thing.
Sincerely,
Zoë Lewis
concerned parent
Dear Zoe,
Thank you for your letter advocating so strongly for your school and VP. I sincerely hope we do not have to make this cut.
The Vancouver School Board is facing a $7.13 million dollar short fall. This follows many years of cuts. School Boards are obligated by provincial law to balance our budgets. Thus, our board has met with Vancouver MLA's such as Premier Campbell, letting them know our situation and the type of cuts we are facing. We are working hard to convince them to fund our district adequately.
I hope you will join us. I believe that together, we will make a difference and the province will fund our district so that we can provide all students with the supports and resources they need.
The MLA for General Gordon is gordon.campbell.mla@leg.bc.ca
Please find attached a letter to parents from our board chair, and some information on why our district is facing these cuts.
Don't hesitate to contact me further with any questions or concerns,
Jane Bouey
Trustee and Vice Chairperson
Vancouver School Board
1580 W. Broadway
Vancouver, BC V6J 5K8
Phone: (604) 876-4123
e-mail: jane.bouey@vsb.bc.ca
https://webmail.vsb.bc.ca/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.vsb.bc.ca/
emails of the Trustees and Secretary-Treasurer:patti.bacchus@vsb.bc.ca, allen.blakey@vsb.bc.ca, jane.bouey@vsb.bc.ca,ken.clement@vsb.bc.ca, ken.denike@vsb.bc.ca, carol.gibson@vsb.bc.ca,sharon.gregson@vsb.bc.ca, mike.lombardi@vsb.bc.ca,allan.wong@vsb.bc.ca, bng@vsb.bc.ca (Brenda Ng, Secretary-Treasurer)Phone numbers of the Trustees:Patti Bacchus 604-250-1130 (Patti is the Chair of The Trustees, and isalso the liason for our school)Allen Blakey 604-433-6844Jane Bouey 604-876-4123Ken Clement 778-866-0317Ken Denike 604-889-0564Carol Gibson 604-734-6610/604-561-8015 (cell)Sharon Gregson 604-505-5725 (cell)/ 604-412-3836 (work) (Sharon isChair of the Finance Committee)Mike Lombardi 604-306-6948Allan Wong 604-437-6074
Zoe,
ReplyDeleteThanks for publishing this letters.
I am so disappointed by the cut in public education funding.
I come from a country were education is free and high quality.
I am now discussing with teachers and librarian because I am working on a creative project that hopefully will raise some fund. Nevertheless this is not enough, we parent need to be louder and save public education.
As Aristotle said: "Education is the best provision for old age".
It seems obvious to me that the biggest priority should be public education and the most sensible investment.
By obliging people to send their kids to private schools we will only increase a social gap which can be devastating for our society in a long run.
I am glad to read today that parents are voicing their concerns as I am a strong believer in public education!
Thanks, Vittoria
Education is a great equalizer gifting students with tools to be resourceful to do anything life. For this reason alone, it saves more government dollars than any other publicly funded program. I hope your voice is heard. Any city that hosts the Olympics and fires its vice principals in the same year, shouldn't be hosting the Olympics.
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