B.C. returns $25 million in administrative savings back to students

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 20^th 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

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  School districts will be able to use the funds they saved for “frontline services” including hiring new teachers, programs, or maintaining schools despite falling enrolment in some regions, according to Education Minister Mike Bernier. (CTV)

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  The provincial government is returning $25 million in administrative savings back into services for B.C. students. (CTV)