.... wages for one of the school board members. Start cleaning house. All school district's need to look at the top end. Quit picking on the communities that are trying to just make a life in a place that is different than the city.
Rural schooling is different than inner city schooling. Work with the communities.
It can be done.

The time to save your schools has come and gone, sadly.You were advised over and over what would happen if you re-elected Gordon Campbell and now his misguided political idealogy has come for your children. The money required to keep your schools and your communities alive was given away to corporations years ago. The downturn in the economy combined with the cost of the Olymic greed fest combined with the corporate give away of your society has truly left the cupboards triply empty. We have given our idea of British Colimbia away with every vote for Gordon Campbell. I feel for you as the pain of finaly awakening from your slumber is indeed a bitter pill to swallow but the signs were there for years before this happened. Just what do you think neo-liberal politicians like Harper had in mind when he said "Elect me and in four years you will not recognize the country"? This is what political ignorance brings to your very own front door.

Less students = fewer schools. Seems like simple math to me.

All the cutting we are seeing by our gov't has nothing to do with having to pay for the Olympics or Campbells bronze plaque.
It's the tough times we live in. LMAO!

This is all the NDP's fault!
They were unable to convince voters into believing they were the right people to lead them.

The Liberals on the other hand, were able to trick the voters into thinking they would not be "RULED" if they were elected!

You see what those of you who voted for the Liberals have unleashed upon us! I hope you all suffer the greatest!

There seems lots of money to give away to other countries??

It will be interesting to see how the law of unintended consequences plays out in all this. One parent mentioned homeschooling. If ten families of 2 kids choose that route $120,000.00 of the savings won't happen because the district won't get that money for those twenty kids.

The savings are estimates done by accountants based on information given by bureaucrats. I wouldn't want to bet my paycheque on the certainty of that outcome.

A side issue. When the Steelworkers wanted to keep mills open they would make a deal with the mill to do an accross the board wage cut to keep the jobs. Has anyone asked the teachers union if they'd be willing to take say 5% less to keep the schools open, and the teaching jobs as well? I'm curious as to what they're response would be.

Enough already,BILLIONS of tax money going to the olympics and the trustees say we have to close schools!Bull,run in the red till olympics are over,then balance the books,cause according to campbell we will have lots of money from the games.If we don t put are foot down now,we will have to home school cause there won t be an education system in the north.
15% unemployment,taxes being raised,politicians of all levels(pg counsel included)give themselves a raise,then give Canfor millions as a tax credit.
I for one am done with the bull sht from all sides of government

If there are to be wage cuts or freezes, it needs to start with the school board admins throughout BC, not the teachers.

Or build a super school, grades k-12 and bus all the kids in from all SD57 areas.

Unions ought to be flexible in tough times and they usually are when they are dealing with private industry.

When things get better they get an opportunity to catch up.

A union of government employees has a different agenda.

The overtaxed taxpayer gets the bill.

All this talk about a possible 14 schools being closed by School District 57. Nowhere has it been mentioned how many teachers would be effected, office staff, principles, custodians etc. I talked to my sister who lives in Mackenzie about the school closure in her community. The school that is being closed has apporoximately 6 teachers, principle, office staff and 2 custodians. She is also employed by School District 57 as a custodian and has been for 20 years. She will be bumped from her position and will be out of work. I am also sure that with all the staff effected their will be bumping of staff, early retirements etc. I do not know where the district says that they will save $220,000. in Mackenzie and $211,000 Nukko Lake when you area employing say approx 12 individuals ( this is just a quess) wages and all the paid benefits would be a lot larger, or am I mistaken. Can someone please explain this.

@ Diplomat....

HA HA LOL LOL....What a joke man/woman..When things get better?..

minimum wage frozen for 9 years under Gordon Scampbell..6.00$ starter wage(Ask Pat Bell how that starter wage is working for him)

Why do you think Shirley Bond moved out of education..She doesn`t want to face you Prince Georgers(Glug Glug)

During the boom times frozen wages for the peasents...How about rural Paramedics getting a fair shake 2.00$ per hour stand by wage....No increases in 8 years for paramedics....

OH YEA...Gordon Campbell can be trusted...LOL LOL...HST...$4 billion dollar deficit(not $495 million)

"Ignorance is Bliss"

Cheers

So they are thinking of wanting to close two french immersion schools in Prince George. I wonder if we can get a grant from Quebec to support this so called second language.

If the option to have the kids go to the school of their choice is still available, this is a huge mistake. Thus the smaller schools will get squeezed.

It is sad to see that decisions are being made in big centers which do not understand the importance of rural schools. I believe that rural Canada is the backbone of our country, thus closing schools in these remote communities is the disintegration of our Canadian Culture. I believe that rural areas should get a special subsidy to preserve this culture. Once we loose the young families living out in the boonies, we will never get them back out there again.

Most of these Rural Schools are in the Regional District of Fraser Fort George.

Part of our Rural tax dollars go to Prince George city programs,services and schools within Prince George City.

Prince George residents have part of their tax dollars designated and used within the Regional District.
Neither will see a credit if the rural schools are closed.Our community will loose. Our property values will go down. Small buisnesses in the rural areas will be impacted. Our schools and community centres are the hearts of our " COMMUNITY".

Sadly several city schools are slated for closure. The possible impact though hard,is not the same.
It would only be the same or at least similar , if all the schools were closed in the city and these children together, K's -12 had to spend over two hours on the bus a day. Would city residents want their tax dollars spent in this way?
We are ALL paying taxes for our children to get an education. We all choose to have them educated in their own neighborhoods whether that be in the city or in the rural areas.
Start cutting back from the top. :)

RIGHT ON "HE SPOKE!"

"It is sad to see that decisions are being made in big centers which do not understand the importance of rural schools."

Its sad to see the postings on this board where people clearly do not understand the cost of rural schools.

Although the NDP specifically and the political left in general believes that tax dollars grow on trees these are difficult decisions that have to be made. WE CANT AFFORD TO LIVE THE WAY Y'ALL DID IN THE 70s. Its unsustainable.

meise1 complaining about school closures and high taxes in the same post would be hilarious if it didnt so clearly illustrate the peoples lack of ability to realize the interconnection.

Right on, Born in BC. It is astonishing and scary to see how many people are in denial and living in the past. That was then, this is now.

I say start cutting at the bottom. I guess its all of matter of where one is on the totem poll, isnt it?

verballabel wrote:
"Or build a super school, grades k-12 and bus all the kids in from all SD57 areas."

Great idea!!! They can build it close to UNBC. Have residences like they used to and still do for high schools.

Just think, a central campus housing a good part of 15,000 students would mean it would be a mini-village. In fact, the could run 3 day schools, bus the kids home for 4 days, and then the next shift comes in. The facilities would then only need to be for 7,500 or so at a time.

They would be able to afford building special purpose facilities such as swimming pools, ice arenas, and use the UNBC facility for some of the field sports.

Of course, Duchess Park is already a good start. Would not want that to go to waste. The rest of the area could be used to provide the other spaces.

Hello Knucklers....$600 million for a doughnut whole in an old dome(does it rain in Vancouver?)

Sea to sky highway upgrade....$800 million dollars...That`s a few bucks...But you up in Prince George might be interested in the service/maintainence contract on the sea to sky highway....

Are you ready...Lets Go...

The service contract for maintainence is...$2.5 billion dollars for 25 years...

360,000,00$ per day,every day for 25 years...Or if you like over $ 8million dollars per month...or if you like...$100 million dollars per year....

Check with the millionaires bank..Mcquarie and Keiwit construction...

Ask Shirley Bond,she`s your Transportation minister...I already had Kevin Falcon confirm these facts on the Sean Leslie show on CKNW....

Now who was it that was saying we can`tafford education like the 70s?

"Ignorance is Bliss"

Ask Shirley Bond...Cmon...Go ahead...If you watched the BC Legislature in action you would know that fact!

Good day.

Look folks....Prince George people are great...Unfortunately the BC Liberals are not...

They have hidden massive taxpayer giveaways from all of us...

Here`s the story on the Sea To Sky Highway..
Cheers everyone.
http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-is-true-cost-of-sea-to-sky-highway.html

Grant G: "HA HA LOL LOL....What a joke man/woman..When things get better?.."

Well, if I would believe (like you do!) that this global downturn is PERMANENT and therefore things will NEVER get better I would make hysterical posts too...

Does anyone else see something wrong with a trustee attending this meeting? I know when we went through this closure process 6 years ago we would have viewed a trustee attending a meeting prior to the start of the consultation process as inappropriate.

The battle will not be won. This Liberal goverment is only concerned about the Olympics, nothing else.

I think maybe the trustee was there because she truly cares about the fate of the children in the schools.

People are forgetting their history about the Olympics. The bid was supported by all levels of government before the Liberals and before Gordon Campbell was in power. Sorry to all the haters out there...

Bang on, MrPG! By ALL levels of government!

2010 Winter Olympics bids.

"The Canadian Olympic Association chose Vancouver as the Canadian candidate city over Calgary, which sought to re-host the games and Quebec City, which had lost the 2002 Olympic bid in 1995. On the first round of voting on November 21, 1998, Vancouver-Whistler had 26 votes, Quebec City with 25 and Calgary 21. On December 3, 1998, the second and final round of voting occurred between the two leading contenders, which saw Vancouver win with 40 votes compared to Quebec City's 32. The win allowed Vancouver to prepare its bid and begin lobbying efforts internationally."

THe NDP was defeated in the election of Spring 2001.

Obviously the seeds for the 2010 Winter Olympics were sown during the years of BC NDP rule.

The people of BC had no vote on the Olympics... only the people of Vancouver had a vote on hosting the Olympics to be paid for by the people of BC.

Grant is 100% correct IMO about the government waste elsewhere that would more than cover the paltry $7 million required to keep our education system one of equal opportunity in BC. Look at what the government administrators are making for a salary, its bloody ridiculous... thousands of them making 6-figure incomes with no accountability for their decisions... some are costing tax payers a half million per year… its out of control and the children will pay for it now, and we as a society and tax payers will pay for it down the road shortly.

One thing people are right about was they were warned. Everyone knew Gordon was a liar at election time and they still voted for him because people in BC vote out of fear and not out of optimism. Look at Mackenzie... the town was at full production when the liberals took power, and yet last election hardly a single person was working with all their industry shut down from policies directly related to BC liberal economic engineering... and yet they voted liberal with a landslide out of fear of what the ndp might do to them. It makes no sense really.

I blame the media. Our democracy can only be as smart as the people that vote and we are all a dumbed down bunch as a result of the synergized and conglomerate media owners from afar limiting our ability to understand what is really going on with our government. The media shares the blame I think with the ignorant voters and the BC liberals for this mess of priorities we are seeing today. If you really want to save your schools find out how to make the media locally owned and controlled first and then you might have a chance… otherwise how will you connect the dots for those that don’t have the time to investigate themselves as they are working so hard to pay the taxes that are being transferred to them from elsehere?

This was cut and pasted off Facebook this am from a previous student of Nukko Lake. They were spreading the link to listen to the radio show today.
There are so many residents in the area that support the school staying open. One does not have to have children in the system to appreciate our culture and values in the rural areas.



They might be closing Nukko Lake School!!!!!
:( That school is a community school, not really a school you want to close unless you want to close the community!!Home -

Opinion 250 - News for Northern and Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada
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You go into the school and look at the class pictures, everyone knew everyone. You would invite the whole class to your birthday. Our moms hung out together, Even though

Even though my mom killed a baby rabbit with her truck on a class field trip!!!! :P

hey born in pg my name is jerry meise call me sometime and explain your comment cause i 2 domm to udertand lol

As for mr is living in the past have funding for school and education,let me guess you live out west,I dont live in the past,except for my hair style,lol the bc libs have cut million for the repair and maintance budgets for schools not because of the economy but to fund the projects in the lower mainland.SO what has living in the past have to do with mismanagment and misplacemnt of our taxes today.

my sentence stucture my not be what you like but deal with it lol