Yellowknife Education DIstrict #1 mulls second budget proposal
Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (May 28/01) - The room was filled with tension.
Members of the Yellowknife District #1 Finance Committee were meeting with administration Thursday night to try and come up with a workable plan before tomorrow's public forum at William McDonald School.
The last public forum held a month ago did not go over well with the more than 250 parents and teachers gathered to hear the bad news facing the public school board.
They were told by board officials that Yellowknife #1 was $1.2 million dollars in the hole.
Finance Committee chair Terry Brookes said there appears to be at least some light at the end of the tunnel. He predicts with some restructuring, the deficit will drop to the $1 million dollar mark, though Schofield believes it is even less at $800,000.
"It doesn't look like our deficit is that bad," Brookes said.
He said additional funding from Education, Culture and Employment GNWT -- approximately $300,000 dollars -- will help.
The Board is also no longer planning to cut 15 staff and teaching positions, but instead focus most of their attention towards cutting back capital projects and technological programs at the schools.
Yet, some positions may still be sacrificed.
"Everything is still open," said Brookes. "I wouldn't count out staff (cuts) right now, but it won't be the kind of numbers we had before."
Regardless, it will be the public's turn tomorrow night to give voice to where they think spending cuts should go.
"They've been there before and they don't want to be let down," said Brookes. "I think it will be important to people that they be heard."
At Thursday's Finance Committee meeting, the Board went well into the night trying to figure out a new draft budget proposal to present the public.
In an unusual turn of events, the Finance Committee made a motion to go in-camera 45 minutes after the meeting began.
"I don't really know why they declare these things to the public, when you're only spend 10 minutes with the public and then go in-camera," complained Dan Schofield, chairperson of the Board, the following morning. Schofield is not a member of the Finance Committee but decided to attend the meeting anyway.
In most circumstances, the Board holds in-camera session prior to public meetings. Marlo Bullock, a Finance Committee member, said it was necessary to go in-camera because she had some "frank" questions to ask regarding the new draft budget, and felt she could be more direct behind closed doors.
The vote to go in-camera was passed unanimously by the Finance Committee.
"The whole process is very stressful," Bullock later said.
"When I started off on the Board I was looking forward to a year or two of easing in, and that didn't quite happen."
