A local school trustee wants the public to know what programs the school district is considering cutting next year to deal with budget troubles, but her attempt to get the information out before a series of budget consultations didn't get the support of the school board.
Trustee MaryAnn Mortensen made a motion at Tuesday's meeting calling for the district to have staff bring forward a list of potential adjustments to programs, staffing, departments, services and supplies before the district consults with the public on the budget.
"We've been asking for this for awhile," Mortensen told The Record. "We need to provide them (the public) with as much information as possible."
Trustees debated Mortensen's motion for over an hour, hammering out a series of changes that meant the information would not be made public at the first of the series of budget meetings (the initial one was held on Jan. 29 in Queensborough).
The board voted to have staff compile the information and provide it to trustees in a closed meeting on Feb. 4.
"The hope is that information stemming out of that meeting will be released to the public at one of the budget consultation meetings," Mortensen said.
While she was disappointed her motion was "watered down," Mortensen was pleased that the board was able to collaborate.
"It was the board working together in a way that everybody could come onboard - to me it's a half-full glass, not a half-empty glass, and that's how I want to look at it," she said. "We are all in agreement that we need to see this information."
The district held a budget consultation meeting last year on its hefty surprise deficit, which many attendees left complaining that the process was futile and uninformative.
This time, Mortensen said, "info must be provided before."
The district is dealing with a hefty shortfall - $5-million it must pay back to the Ministry of Education -and has had to make a series of sweeping cuts to deal with the shortfall.
Parents, particularly those at New Westminster secondary School, are concerned about how the budget will impact education programs next year.
The school's parent advisory council recently sent a letter to the district demanding it provide a detailed account by Feb. 14 of which programs will be cut.
Trustee James Janzen didn't support providing all of the suggested cuts to the public, preferring a "more organic process" where the public could weigh in.
Trustee David Phelan agreed, saying, "The consultation process is designed to get public feedback."
But trustee Casey Cook countered.
"We have gone through two processes, (and) people have commented after. Basically, the comments were, 'Where's the beef? Where's the info?'" Cook said.
"I think we need to find out what the community values. Our stakeholders are very aware that we have major decisions ahead of us. ... I think we need to be very candid in terms of where we are."
Mortensen's motion went through a series of amendments until trustees found consensus.
"I went to a board meeting tonight, and a workshop broke out. I think it's great," Cook said, summing up the meeting.
For information on the district's budget consultations, visit district.sd40.bc.ca.
