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Tough decisions ahead for rural education: Bernier

B.C.'s new education minister said School District 57 faces difficult decisions when dealing with its rural schools. Mike Bernier acknowledged the capacity issue that many of the region's rural schools face.
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B.C.'s new education minister said School District 57 faces difficult decisions when dealing with its rural schools.

Mike Bernier acknowledged the capacity issue that many of the region's rural schools face.

"There are some tough decisions to make," Bernier said in a teleconference with northern media. "(Trustees) need to look at what's going to work well for your region."

In May, the school district made public its long-term facility plan, which showed many schools are under capacity and face significant challenges with their physical condition.

"Despite the closure of 21 schools since 2001/02, the capacity in the district is still considered under-utilzed as the enrolment continues to decline due to a decreasing school age population," said the Cascade Facilities Management report.

Since 2002, the district has closed 21 schools, but the report noted the board has not had discussions around school closures since 2010.

When the Citizen asked Bernier if school closures are the answer or if different funding models could be considered for rural schools, his message was clear: local trustees must work within the existing money they receive.

"We allow the locally elected officials in your district to make those decisions within the funding envelope that they have, sometimes those aren't easy decisions for them to make," said Bernier, who replaced Peter Fassbender in the role as part of a July shuffle of several ministers.

"I'll use myself as an example coming from a rural area, people definitely want to continue enjoying the opportunities that sometimes rural education has but with that comes some tough decisions around funding and what's appropriate within that school district," said Bernier, MLA for Peace River South and former Dawson Creek mayor.

The Ministry of Education has a

95 per cent minimum capacity expectation, but last year Giscome, Nusdeh Yoh as well as both McBride and Valemount elementary and secondary schools all hovered around or below 50 per cent capacity.

Mackenzie secondary sat at 37 per cent while Hixon was at 29 per cent last year. In almost every case, those projections dropped when forecasting 10 years in the future, which was part of the long-range approach to the plan.

By that time, it forecasts 12 of the district's 31 elementary schools and three of its eight high schools will be at that level in 2023/24.

Later Bernier highlighted the province's per student funding this year of $8,902, something the government has said represents an increase of 42 per cent since 2000-01.

District trustees, however, have said those increases are to cover the cost of the new teacher's contract, negotiated last year.

When the district announced its budget in May, which pulled almost $700,000 from the surplus, trustees criticized recent cuts to administration and rising costs connected to inflation and BC Hydro rates it must cover.