Into the Summer

Thank you, everyone, for another great year in Saanich. 2008/09 brought many successes, some of which I have noted in my June newsletter, not the least of which was the way we came together as a community to deal with our budget challenge for 2009/10. Even with the reductions, we are looking forward to another great year for public education in Saanich and across the province as a whole.

We are also interested to see the emergence, at least informally, of a province-wide dialogue about funding. People are wondering about funding levels, the mandate for public education (does it match the funding?) and the potential for some efficiencies to be found system-wide. I look forward to hearing more about that as we move into the fall. Meanwhile, I wish all of you the best possible summer and a great start to the new school year.

So Much to Celebrate

As we head into grad season I just want to comment how proud I am to be an educator in the Saanich School District. Our graduation ceremonies that are held every June serve as reminders of the many successes that our students have had during their years in school. We are also reminded of the bright futures that lie ahead for our grads and, thankfully, for society as these fine young people move off into the world. Public education is thriving in the 21st Century and much of that credit goes to the families who continue to be positively involved in their schools and to the teachers, support staff and administrators who go beyond the call of duty every day to make children's experiences rich and relevant. Thanks to you all, and best wishes to our grads. For those who are not yet done, even if you are of an age where you feel that you should be, stay true to your plans and allow us to keep working with you in whatever way best suits your life circumstance. It is worth the effort, and so are you.

Budget Passed in SD 63 Saanich

The Board of Education passed its 2009/10 budget at its public meeting of May 6, 2009. It incorporates $3.6 million of reductions, some of which was managed through enhancing revenue from distance and international education, but the large majority of which came from actual cuts. You can check the details by going to our website, or go directly to the complete list of reductions here, and the Board's media release here.

One thing to make clear is that Saanich remains a first-rate school district within a first-rate public education system . At the same time, we have to realize that we are $3.6 million short of being able to do next year what we are doing this year. Credit goes to the Board of Education for keeping those reductions as far from the classroom as possible, but we will certainly need to call on the considerable good will that exists among our employees, parents, students and community partners to minimize the impact of these significant reductions.

April/May Newsletter - Memorials, Successes, Budget and Early Learning

If you are interested in having a look at my April/May newsletter, click here. I have listed a number of district successes ranging from our 700 grade six students cleaning up the beaches on Earth Day to Lochside Elementary School hosting a showcase event to celebrate their very successful Scientists in Residence program held through April. You will also see in the newsletter tributes to Marika Townshend and Doug Carswell as well as an overview of the Board's budget deliberation. Early learning is also featured, with reference to the BC School Superintendents Association spring forum that featured brilliant insights from people such as Stuart Shanker, and that brought school and early learning partners together from across the province. Click here for a link to the BCSSA website to see more.

Remembering Marika

As many of you who read this blog will know, we lost a very special person on April 23, 2009. Trustee Marika Townshend, who had served on the Board of Education in Saanich since 1999, was taken by cancer, but her spirit will carry on in all of us for years to come. Marika cared deeply about public education, and extended her Trustee work by serving in many other official capacities (Vancouver Island School Trustees Association, Vancouver Island Labour Relations Council, BC Public School Employers Association, and more). She served the community of North Saanich and the citizens of the entire Saanich School District with passion and commitment, including right up to our last Board meeting on April 8. Marika knew, was known by, loved, and was loved by innumerable people, and we will miss everything about her. Please feel free to post a comment here so that we can together remember this special person.

March Newsletter . . . and more about the budget

I have posted my March newsletter on the School District 63 website. You can access the March newsletter directly by clicking here. In addition to some bouquets for the wonderful coaches, managers and volunteers who support our extracurricular programs I have offered some advice for people in regard to online social networking as well as an overview of how we use our six designated non-instructional (professional development and planning) days in Saanich.

Of greatest urgency, however, is a reminder of processes that the Board of Education has put in place for finalizing our 2009/10 budget. The post below provides more information, including links to the information that we have posted on our website. As you may know, this is a particularly challenging year; we have some very difficult work to do in order to reduce expenditures by 5% and maintain the high quality of programs and services that characterize Saanich. I would urge you, if you are a member of the Saanich learning community, to read further below, then do what you can to contribute to the discussions in person or online.

Budget Reduction Options Up for Commentary

We now have our budget information for 2009/10 and have confirmed our need to reduce the school district budget by $3.6 million next year. Before talking about those necessary and dramatic cuts (see next paragraph), I must say that I appreciate that government came through on its commitment to fund education at the level promised one year ago. During these tought times it was gratifying to see that the education ministry did not see reductions. That said, we remain concerned on two levels. One is that the allocation system seems not to reflect the true needs in districts. The money that is sent may need to be divided up differently. The other is that the relative increase in funding (same money, fewer students) is not keeping up with the real cost of providing educational services. Thus the need to cut. This was rather well captured in the Times Colonists editorial of March 17, 2009. We hope to see a review of the funding model in the coming year and would, of course, be happy to participate.

However, even as we press for provincial dialogue on education funding, we have work to do. Our immediate task is to prepare a balanced budget in May, and we can only do that by cutting $3.6 million worth of programs and services. Make no mistake. This will be a difficult and painful exercise. We have published our list of budget reduction options, along with implications, and are looking for feedback, either through the processes described on our website or directly to budget@sd63.bc.ca, or via responding to this posting. We need all the help we can get. You will see some serious reduction options including eliminating a number of education assistant jobs, reducing by 10 enrolling teachers (after reducing by 6.5 for enrolment decline), reducing the school calendar, closing one of our individual learning centres, and more.

Please contribute to the budget dialogue. After reducing steadily for 12 years, we have hit a cliff unlike any we have encountered before. Thank you for your ongoing support and involvement.