School District 57 narrowly passed third and final reading of a $140.6 million budget for the 2013-14 school year at Tuesday night's public meeting.
Facing a $1.64 million projected deficit, the board ruled 4-3 to pass a budget that will cut spending on salaries, employee benefits and student services.
Teacher spending will be slashed from $50,925,062 in 2012-13 to $49,131,291 in 2013-14. The district projects school enrollment will drop by about 240 students next school year. The new budget calls for slight reductions in spending on school administration, educational assistants, support staff and other professionals.
Student spending will be reduced by $459,536, from $4.07 million to $3.62 million. Slight increases have been allocated for professional development and travel, student transportation, and insurance.
The board anticipates its utility costs will fall by $62,000 to $3.28 million, but spending on supplies will jump to $5.63 million, from $3.65 million in 2012-13.
Trustees Trish Bella, Tim Bennett, Betty Bekkering and chair Sharel Warrington spoke in favour of the budget at its third reading. Three trustees - Sharon Bourassa, Kate Cooke and Brenda Hooker voted against passing the budget.
In other SD57 news:
The mother of a Prince George high school student made an urgent plea to trustees Tuesday night to consider adopting a standalone policy against bullying of students based on their sexual preferences. Kat Doucette, said her son is a straight-A student on the President's List at Prince George secondary school but says he's regularly bullied to the point where he's having suicidal thoughts.
"The policy you have in effect right now is not being enforced," said Doucette. "Children don't report bullying to teachers, they don't report it to principals, and they only report it to their counsellors if they feel they will be listened to. They don't feel anything will be done about it and are reporting it only for their own mental health. If a student has to worry about their own safety, they're not learning.
"I have a suicidal child and I don't know if he'll make it through every day. I shouldn't have to worry if someone is going to push him over the edge."
Doucette's concerns were shared by Richard Giroday, a math/physics teacher at the Centre for Learning Alternatives and first vice-president elect of the Prince George District Teachers' Association. Giroday said the Student Code of Conduct policy to protect the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students used in SD 57 schools does not go into enough detail to highlight terminology, explanations and consequences. He suggested trustees formulate a more comprehensive standalone policy like that used in the Maple Ridge school district, where Giroday used to teach.
"School districts have a responsibility to ensure students have an environment in which students can be harassment-free," said Giroday. "As a teacher, the best thing you can give us is the tools to be able to deal with these type of behaviours and make it very clear. We need that [standalone policy] to be able to deal with the systemic harassment of students that come under the title LGBT."
By a 4-2 vote, the board rejected a motion that senior administration hire two occupational therapists and one speech language pathologist for the 2013-14 school year without reducing current staffing levels. The salaries of the three support staff were to be paid from the board's unappropriated surplus for the first year.
Lorraine Prouse, president of CUPE Local 3742 (school support staff), announced to the board her attendance at Tuesday's meeting was her last before retirement.
She warned job action would be coming as her members struggle without a contract, having already voted in April in favour of strike action, and she asked trustees to continue pushing for more funding in public education.
