College Approves Deficit Budget... Sort Of

By 250 News

Seats in the anteroom of the College Board Room are full and people  stand in the hallway, waiting to hear what the Board will do about  proposed program cuts.

Prince George, B.C. -  The College of New Caledonia has  approved a deficit budget and will take  just over  $250,000.00 from  the reserve to buy equipment  to  pay off the  deficit.

The decisions  approved at the College Board meeting today,  will see:

One program saved,  that being the  Northern  Outdoor Recreation and Eco tourism program in Valemount, dollars will come from the equipment reserve fund.

The Forest Resource Technology program  has been suspended,  while the College  searches for funding sources .  There has been a strong  reaction to word of the planned cut from the council of Forest Industries and the  Ministry of Forests.  One Board member  says something is very wrong "The industry and Ministry are telling us there is widespread demand for forestry technicians,  yet our enrolmens has never been lower, something is wrong and it needs to be fixed."  The College will have talks with the Province and COFI over the next couple of months to  see if other sources of funding can be secured and if the program needs to be  revamped.

But it was the suspension of the program for the disabled that  garnered vocal public response.  The College says  there will be community consultation and a review. The  announcement  brought   comments and   one “boooooo” from the packed gallery.

College President John Bowman said the decision to cut the program for the disabled was the most “difficult, painful and regrettable decision the Board has ever made.”   

That didn’t satisfy  one woman in the gallery  who  called out  “Our children have special needs, we make difficult decisions every day.”  She went  on to say  she feared that if the door is closed on the program it will not re-open.

 “How do I tell Emily that she will not be coming to school next September?”  Board Chair, Bruce Sutherland indicated he understood, as he choked back tears and  said “As a grandfather and a father …” then  trailed off…unable to continue.

He was not the only member of the Board to fight back emotion. 

Ray Gerow (in photo at right) struggled to keep the tears from falling as he told his Board colleagues that he has a special needs daughter “I hope she will be able to come to this college one day.”  He told how the cuts to this program made him want to walk away from the Board but   he has a new focus now “I promise I plan on sticking this out and I will hold their  (the Board’s) feet to the fire to ensure that what we come up with is bigger and better than  what we have now.”

The Board faced multiple interruptions from those in the Gallery who said they had not been invited to offer input.  Faculty Association President, George Davison advised the Board  it must make people more aware of the process, that the public needs to know  they have to apply one week in advance of the meeting  to make a presentation .

College President John Bowman says the review of the program for the disabled will, hopefully, not only find new funding sources, but  result in a program that can serve more students.  Right now, the program has a cap of 12 students, Bowman says there may be an ability to offer a program that could see those numbers doubled.

So why not  use the  same pot  of reserve funding  used to save the "NORE" program and   save the  program for the disabled?  "The main reason is cost" says Bowman, "The NORE program only needed $54 thousand dollars, and  there are  new opportunities that have surfaced, so in order to  benefit from those opportunities, we would have to keep the office in Valemount open so if the office is open,  it  would have  to be staffed."

One parent yelled out “If you managed the money you get properly, you could fund these programs.”

The parents and students are not alone in facing uncertainty about their future.  Faculty and staff members are also waiting for the final details.

Faculty Association President George Davison says there have already been 7 people trimmed from the faulty list.  Three left earlier in the year, 4 more have stepped up for early retirement so their younger colleagues can   be spared the cuts, one notice has been rescinded and eleven more faculty members are on notice.

While College President John Bowman says he expects all who received a lay off notice will be placed somewhere in the College system, Davison isn’t so optimistic “We have made some suggestions on where the College can place these people, but the College has not committed to anything at this point.”   The layoff notice period continues to the end of July.

Board member Ray Gerow said he attended a recent meeting of College Board members and Presidents and found it ironic that the 2.6% reduction in funding for all colleges  amounts to one week of funding for the University of B.C.

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