The Vancouver School Board predicts it will fall $25 million in debt by the end of next year if the provincial government does not fully fund public education and reinstate its annual facilities grant.

At an emergency meeting Wednesday night, trustees passed a series of resolutions urging the province to fund the school districts so B.C. schools can afford everything from H1N1 control to seismic upgrades.

The district is facing a loss of $10.6 million in maintenance funding as part of a province-wide cutback.

"You know, these are not decisions that people like to make," Premier Gordon Campbell said Wednesday. "They're decisions that we have to put priorities on."

Among the resolutions passed, the VSB is asking for the province to restore all cancelled or reduced grants, fund increased employee MSP premiums, and fully fund all-day kindergarten. It's also asking to grant partial Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) rebates to school districts.

"This is not really the way we want to be starting a school year," school board chair Patti Bacchus said.

Big changes

A staff report shows almost $7 million of this year's operating budget stems from one-time transfers of monies from a previous budget surplus, as well as dipping in to the district's cash reserves - funds the board doesn't expect this year.

"We've been tightening our belt for several years and it's very difficult to take anything away from a budget that's been stripped down to the bones," Bacchus said.

Bacchus says the board may consider a loan as a possibility to deal with funding shortfalls.

"In a crisis situation and short term I think that might be an option," she said.

PAC funding

The VSB was hit hard Tuesday by news gaming grants to Parent Advisory Councils would be slashed by 50 per cent -- a funding reduction of $500,000.

"The ministry will continue to work with school districts as best as we can, and help them as best as we can," Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid said.

"I think everybody though really understands these are challenging times."

Everyone has a part to play to get the province's huge deficit under control, she said.

Parents will be expected to dig deeper to pay for supplies, field trips and sporting events, as a result.

"Parents are burnt out. We're tired of bake sales to fundraise for the simplest things, when there is so much money being thrown at the Olympics," Julianne Doctor of the Vancouver Parent Advisory Council said.

"And we're struggling just to make sure there is going to be soap and water in the washrooms."

District parent advisory councils are asking citizens to complain to their elected officials about the cuts.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Maria Weisgarber