WEB EXTRA- Stakeholders respond to school board's cutback plan
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Updated: September 09, 2009 6:32 AM
Sharing the cut burden and potential school closures were some of the concerns School District 70 stakeholders had in reaction to the plan to deal with cutbacks.
After Tuesday night’s meeting, local CUPE president Randy Gibson said the district office needs to share an equal share of the cut’s burden.
“They’re top heavy here,” Gibson said. “The pain has to be shared from the top down.”
CUPE members have been in contact with Gibson this week, and many are worried. “The district says it has difficult decisions to make,” Gibson said. “Those decisions start at a lot of people’s kitchen tables.”
Gibson isn’t sold on the classrooms being spared from cuts, he said. “They say that classrooms won’t be impacted, but if you look at what’s being cut that’s inevitable,” Gibson said.
ADTU president Ken Zydyk said the community consultation phase of the district’s plan foreshadows something more ominous.
“I’m concerned they will explore school closures as an option,” Zydyk said. “The government has made it impossible to keep the number of schools open that we have and maintain them at the same time.”
Another potential option is just as foreboding, Zydyk said. “I’m concerned about another school re-configuration, one that moves away from the middle school model,” he said.
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