Alumni and staff of an alternative mini school in Vancouver are speaking out against proposed cuts to teaching staff.
The cuts come as part of the Vancouver Board of Education’s proposed 2014-2015 budget, which is projecting a $28.7 million shortfall.
The proposal includes cuts across the education system, including the elimination of the elementary school band program, the closure of Roberts Adult Education Centre, reducing psychologist and counsellor staff and cutting teachers, including one of two from Vancouver’s City School.
VSB blames the cuts to the 25-student mini school on low enrollment, saying a teacher-student ratio of 1 to 15 will be retained. However, in a school of 25, the numbers don’t add up.
Vancouver School Board chair Patti Bacchus said the proposed cuts were the result of some “extremely difficult decisions.”
“In these cases… taking away a teacher from City School, they are hard choices, but I would say they’re probably not very smart choices and the provincial government doesn’t seem to get that.”
More than 90 per cent of VSB funding comes from the province.
“Why are we in a province that has one of the lowest level of educational funding in the country?” Bacchus said, adding that many other districts in B.C. face similar challenges.
“The key issue here is why are we having to consider these kinds of options when we have programs like City School that have been really successful for so many students,” she said.
One of those former students is speaking out against the proposed cuts, crediting City School for much of his success as an adult.
Like other students at City School, former student Kellen Powell was strong academically, but struggled in a conventional high school environment as a so-called “outsider.”
“I had all but given up on myself. Then I got jumped by a group of older kids who beat me up. Twice,” he said.
Powell said he was “on track to become an angry, socially maladjusted burn out, who probably would have ended up escaping into drugs, alcohol and petty crime.”
After enrolling at City School, Powell gained confidence in the smaller, more tailored learning environment.
“I was still a total weirdo, but so was everyone else at school now. Everyone could relax and focus on learning. The anger was gone. My self esteem was rebuilt. I started getting good grades again. My passion for learning had come back,” Powell said.
Sal Robinson, City School’s alternative program worker for 37 years, said Powell’s personal story echoes that of many of the program’s alumni.
“It means happier young people, happier families, people finding their way that weren’t going to find it otherwise and finding success and pleasure in going to school instead of just gritting their teeth for all those years,” Robinson said.
She worries that if City School loses a teacher, the future of the program may be uncertain.
VSB trustees will hear public input on several dates leading up to April 30 when the final budget will be tabled.
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