I believe the bussing routes really need to be changed. If parents are given the option of having their children attend a rural school, the schools would fill up. But they can't do this because inner city schools have empty classrooms.

Get with the times already and utilise the internet. It would be cheaper in the long run than bussing these kids all over for hours. With all the technology these days you would think that home schooling would be front and centre.

Absolutely. If people want to live out in the boonies and don't want to see their kids on a bus for 2 hours a day, then the home schooling/internet option might be the best choice for many people.

If it's not an option, then it would probably would be better pick up and move into town. People cannot have their cake and eat it too.

Wouldn't it be a viable option to consider amalgamating the School Districts? We could keep our regional school boards but we could share administration costs. Even a 40% cost reduction in admin costs would go along ways towards keeping the rural schools open.

What about busing costs?? I live near the Giscome school and there are times that I am stopped behind a school bus going towards town...while there is another one headed towards Giscome?? Do we really need two school buses running the same route or can something be done with bus scheduling??? Not to mention the size of the units, do you really need a bus capable of carrying 60 passengers running a route half empty???

The news reports say our district has lost 1900 students in the last 5 years...this trend will not stop until we stop the job losses. Where I work there is an excessive amount of overtime being worked that could be translated in job creation if the Labour Minister changed the laws to make it onerous for large companies to use overtime instead of hiring to fill their schedules. At this point it is cheaper to pay overtime premiums than it is to hire more people.

I've also got to wonder what will happen when our population growth turns around? No doubt millions of dollars will have to be spent to bring these shuttered schools back into operation....our governments are being pretty short sighted if they continue to ignore the fact that population is growing world wide and this will eventually filter down into our communities...providing we have anything left to offer them.

I think that the solution to this problem if for all the teachers to take a 20% rollback in their wages, like other industries, ie logging. There are a lot of young teachers who can't get a job and are subbing and are earning very low wages. There is obviously an excess supply of teachers, so why not drop the wage, reduce the unemployment, reduce class size, improve the educational process, and utilize these empty classrooms and save the schools.
The educational system is being driven into the ground by the greedy teachers union. In norther Europe, the place where many point to as socialist paradise teachers earn about 60% of the salary as teachers in Canada...It worked for Canfor Mackenzie and Chetwynd. Cheers

I think that the solution to this problem if for all the teachers to take a 20% rollback in their wages, like other industries, ie logging. There are a lot of young teachers who can't get a job and are subbing and are earning very low wages. There is obviously an excess supply of teachers, so why not drop the wage, reduce the unemployment, reduce class size, improve the educational process, and utilize these empty classrooms and save the schools.
The educational system is being driven into the ground by the greedy teachers union. In norther Europe, the place where many point to as socialist paradise teachers earn about 60% of the salary as teachers in Canada...It worked for Canfor Mackenzie and Chetwynd. Cheers

Just love how some people decide the best way to fix a problem is to have other people make sacrifices. The government is underfunding school districts, so teachers should take a rollback? Are you kidding me?

cupricity why not a hike in your taxes. Oh you don't like that idea but its okay for those evil overpaid teachers to take a pay cut. Also it did not take long for someone to blame it all on the unions. Amazing short sighteness.

What about the people living in these small communities that have lived there their whole life and own their own business and this all they know? They can't be expected to give it all up. They need schools for their kids. I live in the city but I fully support these small schools. Find other ways to cut & keep them open. Not everyone can home school either. What about the single parents? They have to work and some of them are running their own business. It's just not that easy to up & move to PG or they would have done it. I feel for them. I think there has to be other ways. Consolidating the schools in PG and keeping the rural schools open makes more sense to me. It can't always be about money. What about quality of life?

In reply to MRPG as below:

For those who want to live in the "Boonies" as we chose, we chose our area because it was rural and had a rural school. If our area school closes our closest option is long bus rides.Your statement should be reversed to make a debate to be compared: if all the schools in your area were closed and you were told to take the bus to the rural areas, on long bus rides, what would you do? choose to move to the "BOONIES?" We welcome you :)

Absolutely. If people want to live out in the boonies and don't want to see their kids on a bus for 2 hours a day, then the home schooling/internet option might be the best choice for many people.

If it's not an option, then it would probably would be better pick up and move into town. People cannot have their cake and eat it too.

Thanks mythoughts. Well said.

Seems people who live in rural areas do not have any problem coming to town for the following reasons.

(1) Go to Work
(2) Go Shopping, at the various malls etc;
(3) Go to the various entertainment facilities ie; Hockey Games, Movies, Skating, etc; etc; etc;
(4) Go to Doctors
(5) Go to Hospital

Etc; etc; etc;.

In addition there are some pretty good tax breaks by living outside of the City, some of these are offset by burning more gas, however overall its a pretty good lifestyle.

The problem is the lifestyle makes it difficult to provide schooling for the kids. People in the rural areas enjoy all the amenities of the big city at a lower tax cost to them, and then insist on getting the funding for smaller schools with less students.

Options:

a. Move to town
b. Pay an additional school tax to keep your present school open.
c. Continue to Bus.
d. Go to the Private School system.
e. Go to Home Schooling
f. Get the Government and the BC Teachers Association to allow teachers to teach more than one grade. Especially from K to Grade 5.
g. Reduce the amount of Education needed to teach the lower grades ie; K to 5 so that people who want to teach these classes do not have to spend 5 years in a University. There would of course be a corresponding reduction in K to 5 Teachers salaries.

H. Go to shifts in those schools where it would be benificial. Morning shift 7 to Noon. Afternoon shift Noon to 5. This would reduce the number of schools needed, with all their attendent costs.

With less teachers teaching more students you would have a reduction in costs.

Im sure there are many other options that could be looked at, and probably will be, however you can rest assured that if a good solution is not found, then bussing will be the solution.

The School Boards themselves, and the BC Teachers Federation, have a huge responsibility to be fiscally responsible, and in my opinion they have not been to this point.

At some point Administration costs and Teachers, Staff, Maintenance salaries have to be capped, they cannot get increases forever, it just doesnt make sense.

So why not now. Same applies to any workers in any field that gets paid in access of $50,000.00 per year. Cap the salaries. Take a break. Give the Union Officials a 5 year, paid holiday. This would save us millions.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to live out in the rural areas (aka boonies) all things being equal. However, I made the conscious decision to stay in town for my kids' sake.

I wouldn't have a problem if the people currently in the rural areas decided to pick up the slack and pay extra tax to keep their schools open. But for some reason, I cannot see them going for that.

Again, for those still in denial... here are the numbers.

SD57 Student Capacity: 22,000
SD57 Student Enrollment: 13,400 (and going down)

About 15 years ago the students of Nukko Lake school had to take the bus to Edgewood, about a 50 minute bus ride on average. This had to be done because there were bat fecies in the school and that was not healthy for the kids. My understanding regarding the Giscome school is that it is not safe for the kids either, so this school would have to be replaced before it is even safe for the kids to attend school there. In regards to Giscome, in paricular, it makes the most sense to bus those children to a safe environment for them to learn in.
Also, I read through the very extensive Executive Summary on the School District #57 website and the options they have put forth do make the most sense financially. One way or another it is going to negatively impact some families and that is just the truth of it all. It is also unfortunate for the teachers, but I do also support the suggestion of teachers taking a salary cut to further minimize the deficit that the district is going to run.
I would encourage everyone to go to the School District website and read the justificatiton behind their recommendations. Here is the link:

http://www.sd57.bc.ca/fileadmin/cao.sd57.bc.ca/District_Info/Reports/2010.01.19_DSC_Report.pdf

1) They already have internet learning for home school kids.
2) Teachers are highly trained individuals who spent 6-7 years of their lives learning how to educate your little darlings. They put up with incredible stresses from students and parents and their hands are basically tied when it comes to disciplining kids. When compared to others who spent that much time in CONSTANT training (don't compare it to an apprentice whom gets to earn a living while going to school), they are underpaid. Especially the dedicated ones that do things like sponsor/coach teams and clubs. But yeah, lets roll back their wages. How dare those greedy bastards expect to be able to raise a family and enjoy life like the rest of us. I mean they are public SERVANTS for gosh sakes.
3) Why would you bus the majority instead of the minority?

As far as wages not that long ago All school district employees got 0 for thier raises for their contracts because of cut backs then, now again you want them to not have a raise and also be cut back. I don't know what you people do for a living but haven't you noticed that this is effecting you, if the jobs aren't there ,there is no money to spend on anything. everyone makes decision that is best for thier kids. So my suggestion is to close on school PGSS and run 2 shifts at the new Dutchess Park and that way it will save lots on administration and heating etc. After all it is a brand new school and this way the rural school can be left open and no one will be riding buses for any longer than normal

1) Pay teachers less.
2) Hire more teachers with the savings. 3) Have smaller classes so teachers are less stressed and enjoy their work more. 4)Students get better education because they have more time and less stressed teachers.
5)The unemployment rate goes down for recent university BA graduates.
6)Qualifications and paycheques are not related. The world is not fair. If money is what motivates you should not be a teacher.
7) Public sector unions are problematic as the government can't say "no" and close down a school if it is not profitable. And if the government needs more money we all pay for it.
8)Have a great day!

Want our schools back? Stop selling condoms, IUDs and birth control pills fer about two years in and around this town. Then this town will eventually be awash with innumerable, adorable little ankle biters just lining up to go to re-opened schools. No kids, ergo no schools. Not rocket science.

"Teachers are highly trained individuals who spent 6-7 years of their lives learning how to educate your little darlings. When compared to others who spent that much time in CONSTANT training (don't compare it to an apprentice whom gets to earn a living while going to school), they are underpaid"

It was my understanding that teachers spend TWO years of their life learning how to teach "little darlings". The other four years are spent earning their Undergraduate Degree, just like thousands of other people do every year in BC. In many cases, that Undergraduate Degree is completely irrelevant to their teaching job, especially if they are teaching lower grades. So in those cases, why is it necessary to compensate someone for skills and/or knowledge they have acquired, even if is not needed for the job they are doing? I can see paying for that expertise at the senior high school levels and post secondary, but do we really need people with that level of education to teach Grade 4 or 5? Maybe the wage scales need to be adjusted to reflect the required level of education to teach the respective grade. Just a thought.

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The undergrad degree is "completely irrelevant" - only someone who doesn't teach for a living could possibly say that. That statement is, quite frankly, ridiculous.

The issue here is not the big bad union-it is that the government gives with one hand and takes with another. $200,000 for carbon credits next year. That would keep a school open. Negotiating a contract with teachers and not funding the increase. Increasing MSP premiums and not funding it (or consulting with the boards that will have to apy it). And even the recent annoucement about the HST is a not a real saving - the board will have to pay more taxes than in the past.

In 2002, the government decided to fund school boards on a per student basis. Nothing comes our way in the form of heating schools, bussing, or any of the extra costs that come from living in a northern, rural district.

So keep it up-blame the big bad teachers until H3ll freezes over if you wish. You're playing right into the hands of the very people who created this problem. The people who need to be held accountable for their decisions walk away, laughing at you the whole time.

From the Tyee. (As far left as it goes)

"Staffing absorbs about 85 per cent of school budgets,"

No question where the cuts have to come from. Get it done and kick some of them to the curb. Problem is the union will protect the useless ones, further eroding the quality available to the public system. At least the private system will be able to pick up some of the good ones that will soon be looking for work.

Who's blaming teachers? I was simply responding to the suggestion that teachers "spend 6-7 years of their lives learning HOW to educate", which is simply not true. They will indeed learn HOW to educate people during a portion of their studies, but for much of them (likely the majority), they are simply acquiring knowledge, just like everyone else in the population with an undergraduate degree. This knowledge may or may not be applied in their future teaching career.

The thing that distinguishes teachers from the rest of the population with degrees, IMHO, is their study in HOW to educate and that does not require 6-7 years of their time. All of my friends who are teaches tell me that this is a 2 year investment, however, I suppose it could vary depending on the program, etc.

Truth be told, I don't even think that teachers wages are all that great for what they have to do, at least at the high school level say. The average salary for a teacher is what, 60K? There are ALLOT of jobs out there that pay 60K, many of which don't have the entry standards of the teaching profession, the responsibilty, etc. I think that teaching is a noble profession, however, that doesn't mean that we can't look for ways to improve the system. If wage levels already take into account the different responsibilities between teaching k-7, high school, etc., then I suppose there isn't much that can be done there.

As for funding, you are absolutely correct that the things currently being funded could be re-allocated to the education system. Therein lies the problem through. It would result in CUTS to other spending areas, areas that may be just as important to the general population as education. Last time I checked, the people of BC did want the government to spend on health care, the environment, infrastructure, safety, etc. You can't look at the education budget in isolation. Any additional money that goes to it has to come from somewhere else. Pay raises not being funded is also another issue, but that happens in every area of government, not just education. The alternative may be for them to say "you don't get a raise". I have a hunch that wouldn't go over very well . . .

The other reality that many people seem to be forgetting is that our student population is in decline. Obviously if there are less students, there will be lower budgets. It's a simple relationship. Education, unlike many other government programs, will require less funding when less people are using the services. Many government services do not have this inherent level of flexibility. Education funding likely should ebb and flow with demand, because it can (note this doesn't mean that the level of funding is adequate). Other government services don't have this luxury because the demand from the population will generally never change. In some cases, demand may even go up as demographics change (greater demand for health care as the population ages for example). Of course money should come from areas that don't need it and be allocated to areas that do. The debate centers around how much needs to be reallocated, where it should come from and what's "fair".

The other reality that we live with is that the majority will get most of the funding. That means the urban centres. That's where most people live and that's where the money will flow.

If we really want to preserve rural schools, I think we need to look at doing things differently. Maybe parents do need to pay a surcharge to have their kids attend these schools, maybe we do more online instruction options, maybe we make smaller more cost effective schools, maybe we use community halls as schools instead of having stand alone schools (thus sharing the costs), etc. I don't think the status quo is going to all that sustainable, especially as we have fewer kids and few people living in rural areas of the Province.