McBride Secondary School – photo submitted

McBride, B.C. – How are our tax dollars being used to support public education?

That’s just one of the questions parents will be asking trustees and senior administrators in the Prince George School District at a public meeting in McBride tonight.

The District has also called the meeting because it says parents have also questioned how provincial curriculum and local programming decisions can best serve their community.

“This (meeting) was one of the recommendations that came out of our ad hoc committee on rural education, it was something that we heard loud and clear from community members, especially in McBride,” says Tim Bennett, school board chair. “And we want to make sure that community members feel comfortable as to how we’re utilizing tax dollars.”

Karen Dube, president of the McBride Secondary School Parent Advisory Council, says community members should take a lead in ensuring “vibrant, healthy public schools” in McBride and notes they will use the meeting to seek answers about the future of public education in their community.

“What we’re hoping to hear is that we can receive some stable funding, maybe three-year funding which would help us plan for the future given that we have low enrolment and we’re worried about how we’re going to function with teachers in front of students considering the funding model the provincial government currently provides,” she says.

“We’re also hoping to re-confirm that we have more notice and more involvement if co-location is still on the table. We know the Board has tabled that for a bit but we expect we’re going to hear about it more in the fall with our enrolment declining.

Tonight’s meeting runs from 5-6:30 in the Roundhouse Theatre at McBride Secondary School.