The provincial government is returning $25 million in administrative savings back into services for B.C. students.
School districts will be able to use the funds they saved for “frontline services” including hiring new teachers, funding programs, or maintaining schools despite falling enrolment in some regions, according to Education Minister Mike Bernier.
"We are giving districts the ability to invest in their individual priorities," Bernier said in a release. "This provides a great opportunity for each district to spend the money in a way that will best meet the needs of the students of that district."
Public schools in B.C. were told to cut back on spending for two years and Vancouver School Board Chair Mike Lombardi said the Vancouver school district had to make $5.4 million in administrative cuts.
“We're grateful to get it back, we wish it wouldn't have happened in the first place,” Lombardi told CTV News.
BC NDP leader John Horgan said the redirected funds are too little, too late.
“It’s been two years of disruption in the K to 12 system, it’s been two years of acrimony within districts for kids, for parents, for teachers, for schools and now in the 11th hour the premier takes a modest drop and places it in the bucket and hopes for a pat on the back,” Horgan said.
BC School Trustees Association president Teresa Rezansoff said the association is happy with the reinvestment.
"The BC School Trustees Association is pleased that the Ministry of Education and government have been responsive to our ongoing advocacy," Rezansoff said in a release. "We thank them for engaging in open dialogue with us regarding the funding concerns of school districts. Local autonomy to allocate the money based on local priorities is important."
Lombardi said the funds will not be enough to save schools with low enrolment.
“Our superintendent has made it clear, and has told us that on June the 20th he will be bringing forth a list of potential closures for the 2017 school year,” he said.
The Surrey school district has $3.1 million for re-investment, Vancouver has $2.25 million, Burnaby has $1 million, Richmond has nearly $872,000, North Vancouver has $665,000, and West Vancouver has $284,000.
Below is a list of savings for re-investment for each B.C. school district.
SD 5 Southeast Kootenay - $277,377
SD 6 Rocky Mountain - $168,700
SD 8 Kootenay Lake - $252,383
SD 10 Arrow Lakes - $36,091
SD 19 Revelstoke - $51,315
SD 20 Kootenay-Columbia - $178,204
SD 22 Vernon - $382,586
SD 23 Central Okanagan - $967,983
SD 27 Cariboo-Chilcotin - $259,687
SD 28 Quesnel - $168,780
SD 33 Chilliwack - $603,535
SD 34 Abbotsford - $846,484
SD 35 Langley - $851,770
SD 36 Surrey - $3,128,483
SD 37 Delta - $690,188
SD 38 Richmond - $871,987
SD 39 Vancouver - $2,251,318
SD 40 New Westminster - $295,560
SD 41 Burnaby - $1,027,783
SD 42 Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows - $631,773
SD 43 Coquitlam - $1,338,556
SD 44 North Vancouver - $665,252
SD 45 West Vancouver - $284,472
SD 46 Sunshine Coast - $182,072
SD 47 Powell River - $105,664
SD 48 Sea to Sky - $224,674
SD 49 Central Coast - $28,001
SD 50 Haida Gwaii - $50,678
SD 51 Boundary - $77,888
SD 52 Prince Rupert - $123,861
SD 53 Okanagan Similkameen - $118,102
SD 54 Bulkley Valley - $110,533
SD 57 Prince George - $622,655
SD 58 Nicola-Similkameen - $122,301
SD 59 Peace River South - $205,328
SD 60 Peace River North - $307,317
SD 61 Greater Victoria - $827,353
SD 62 Sooke - $450,041
SD 63 Saanich - $329,692
SD 64 Gulf Islands - $99,976
SD 67 Okanagan Skaha - $266,527
SD 68 Nanaimo-Ladysmith - $593,079
SD 69 Qualicum - $197,263
SD 70 Alberni - $184,456
SD 71 Comox Valley - $354,941
SD 72 Campbell River - $255,596
SD 73 Kamloops/Thompson - $673,698
SD 74 Gold Trail - $97,792
SD 75 Mission - $280,146
SD 78 Fraser-Cascade - $96,520
SD 79 Cowichan Valley - $348,411
SD 81 Fort Nelson - $48,645
SD 82 Coast Mountains - $248,728
SD 83 North Okanagan-Shuswap - $302,206
SD 84 Vancouver Island West - $40,077
SD 85 Vancouver Island North - $89,257
SD 87 Stikine - $27,319
SD 91 Nechako Lakes - $253,903
SD 92 Nisga'a - $38,961
SD 93 Conseil scolaire francophone - $386,075