WATCH ABOVE: Nick Moore speaks to Aaron McArthur.
VANCOUVER – International students are a huge source of income for school districts across B.C.
With the ongoing education dispute, most school districts are having administrators teach these students outside the classroom.
But in the Comox Valley, a middle school opened on Monday to the district’s 160 international students.
The fact that they are in class while more than 500,000 of B.C.’s public school children are not, is not sitting well with local teachers.
Moore said the big issue is that the administration staff are asking the students, and the people taking care of them, to cross the picket line.
“Other districts across the province seem to have found alternate arrangements,” said Moore. “Rec centres, other schools, other buildings, and our district, our superintendent claims that there was no other suitable space.”
He said teachers understand that the district has a legal obligation to teach these students, but to have them cross a picket line is angering the local teachers.
“Our pickets are up to stop unionized members from being there,” said Moore. “So we understand that principals and vice-principals can be directed to teach students during this time. It just doesn’t sit well when we’ve got this kind of, basically a private school, which is what this international school is, they bring in a whole bunch of money that our district relies on to fund these kids’ education but also to subsidize the education of the public school students.”
The international students pay almost $13,000 a year to come to B.C. and study.
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