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Parents fight for playground funding Council concerned about sustainability of core grant funding
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, September 18, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Several parents were joined by the acting chair of the Yk1 school board at city hall on Monday to argue that proposed changes to the city's special grant policy would prevent new playgrounds from being built.
The grant review committee recently completed the annual review of its special and core grant policies, which led to parent advisory committees (PAC) being excluded from applying for grant funding.
PACs were excluded because of their charitable status, which allows them to write off donations.
The construction of school playgrounds is currently overseen by PACs, which depend on a combination of personal donations, special funding and contributions from the business community in order to build them.
Neither the GNWT nor the schools themselves contribute to the funding of playground construction.
David Wasylciw, chair of the PAC at NJ Macpherson School, pointed out that the city gets a high return on its investment when it gives money toward building playgrounds.
He said with just $8,500 in funding from the city, NJ Macpherson's PAC was able to build a fully accessible playground worth well over $75,000.
"If they are not able to apply for any of the funding, it's a real loss to the community," said Wasylciw. "All it does is add a lot of red tape and take away from people being able to contribute."
John Stephenson, acting chair of Yk1, said that playgrounds do not just provide a service to schools, but to the community in general.
"They are community resources," he said. "They benefit the whole neighborhood, whether it's a swing, or basketball court, kids play there any day, all day, weekends and summer - it's not just a school resource."
After hearing the arguments of Stephenson and several other parents, city council agreed PACs should be allowed to apply for special grant funding.
As a result, the grant review committee will look at including a clause allowing PACs to apply for funding as part of its proposed amendments to special grant policy.
The city is currently limited to allocating two per cent of its budget toward grants, as per regulations set out by the GNWT.
That two per cent, which equates to $418,000, is split between both core funding and special grant funding.
Vanthuyne pointed out that an increased amount of funding is going toward supporting core grants, which means there is less opportunity for new applicants to receive special grants.
"On the path we're going on right now, the funding from special grants in 2012-2013 was almost cut in half because of the people making a transition to core grants," he said.
Organizations that receive core grants are reviewed annually, but rarely have their funding revoked. As such, as more organizations make the transition to core grant funding, there is less money to go around.
"In the end, core grant funders will take away from special grant funds," said Vanthuyne.
In order to ensure the city's grant funding remains sustainable, Vanthuyne suggested the city should consider putting term limits on core grants.
Several councillors agreed with Coun. Rebecca Alty, who suggested a three-year term limit.
Coun. Bob Brooks, who chairs the grant review committee, warned that organizations such as Northern Arts and Cultural Centre would not be able to survive without core grants.
He argued that providing terms for certain types of organizations would make sense for some, but not for others.
"I think the idea has some merits, as long as we build in some caveats that some (organizations) will (try to be profitable)," said Brooks. "That makes perfect sense for them."
Brooks said he would have the proposal reviewed by the committee and that it would be presented to council at a later date.
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