New Westminster parents are calling on the provincial government to step up to the plate with more funding for local schools.
The district parent advisory council delivered its message during a presentation to school board April 27 outlining its priorities for the school district’s 2021/22 budget.
DPAC spokesperson Kathleen Carlsen said New Westminster parents still remember the “deep, painful cuts” that had to be made back in the years when the district was running multimillion-dollar deficits.
Carlsen acknowledged those deficits have since turned into surpluses, and New Westminster’s growing enrolment puts it in a better funding position than many other school districts. But she said the pressure is not off.
“It’s still critical that we focus on what’s most important and advocate for more support from our provincial government,” she said.
“B.C. schools still remain among the lowest funded per student in Canada, and districts continue to be forced to do more with less every year. While we may have surpluses to help us weather the storm for now, parents do not want to see us come out of the pandemic in a situation where we have to make cuts to educational programs and services in order to balance the budget.”
Carlsen said the lack of supplementary funding from the province for COVID-19 is a major concern.
“No district should have to make a trade-off between protecting the health and safety of our kids and staff, and investment in educational services and programs,” she said.
SAFETY, MENTAL HEALTH AMONG PARENT PRIORITIES
Carlsen said 800 parents responded to a recent DPAC survey, and those responses showed parents want emphasis placed on three areas: health and safety, mental health and wellness, and educational programs.
For health and safety, Carlsen said, parents want the district to be able to minimize the number of students in classrooms, including support for outdoor learning, and to be able to upgrade ventilation systems where necessary. Another key priority is maintaining the daytime custodians who have been working in schools this year as part of the district’s pandemic response.
On the mental health front, Carlsen said, parents want to ensure there is enough funding for additional counsellors, Indigenous support and therapists (such as speech therapists). At the very least, she said, there should be one full-time counsellor in every school.
“Even before COVID, there was a huge demand for more mental health supports. The pandemic has only reinforced the need for these supports and made them even more necessary,” she said.
As far as educational programs go, Carlsen said parents want the district to keep online learning intact, with enhanced options for programs of choice such as early French immersion.
DPAC also wants to make sure arts and music programs are maintained at all levels, from elementary up to high school.
“We’ve heard many districts cutting these programs. We’d like to see a strong foundation of band, drama in middle school to prepare for the high school,” she said.
And, at the high school level, parents want to make sure the district keeps offering programs such as trades, textiles, electronics, foods and other “highly valuable” electives.
“We ask the board to extend its leadership role and to join us in advocating to the provincial government to not only provide the necessary funding to not only help offset the pandemic-related costs and support the online learning programs, but to also advocate for an increase in overall operating funding grant per student,” she said.
Follow Julie MacLellan on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
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