Dear Editor:
Re: District ends year with shortfall of $4.4 million, The Record, June 28.
The news reporting the results of the final budget New Westminster school district secretary-treasurer Al Balanuik presented to the Ministry of Education is insulting.
How can the province force a school board in the smallest and oldest municipality of Western Canada to layoff 60 staff in order to reduce the deficit, instead of giving us a hand with a larger budget to create a larger educational system that is more profitable?
It would be too difficult for the province to increase the budget, I guess, since the provincial government is more interested in granting winners of the B.C. Lottery Corporation more than $50 million a month on some months, or at least, some $5 million during really bad months. By the way, when was the last month with less than $5 million in prizes?
Now, we at school district 40 carry forward a deficit of $2.8 million from last year. How long is the school going to take to pay back the $4.4 million when the budget surplus for next year is only $20,000? Two hundred and twenty years . at no interest? C'mon, do the math - 220 years. What kind of government do we have?
Marco A. Murillo, New Westminster
