Lynn Lau
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Jun 15/01) - Heeding the demands of parents and teachers, the public school board voted Tuesday to spare two teachers and cut other positions instead.
Trustees of the Yellowknife Education District No. 1 voted four to two to cut one janitor and one senior district administrator in order to save two of eight teaching positions that were on the cutting board.
Last minute amendments by trustee Marlo Bullock moved $150,000 from janitorial and administration salaries to cover the two teachers, while maintaining an operating surplus of $182,000 for the 2001/2002 fiscal year.
"I never would have believed that I would be putting forward a motion to cut people," Bullock said later.
"I felt almost physically sick putting forward that motion, but the fiscal reality is we have to fix our problems."
Board chair Dan Schofield supported the motion, saying the district would still be able to pay off the accumulated deficit of $840,540 within three years.
"I want to make sure we have securities in place so we're not doing this again next year," Schofield said. "I personally cannot take it."
The budget approved Tuesday will still cut six teaching positions (one half-time and two full-time teachers, plus one half-time and three full-time teaching assistants), but that number is far fewer than initially feared. Earlier drafts had proposed cutting as many as 17 teaching positions, an idea that was grounded by overwhelming public opposition.
Finance committee chair Terry Brookes had earlier put forward an unsuccessful motion to preserve the two teaching positions with money taken from the operating surplus, leaving other areas untouched.
"The only line I'm willing to look at is the surplus," Brookes said. Although his proposal would have left the surplus close to zero, he argued the operating fund reserve of $50,000 would cover any unforeseen expenses.
"With good management over the next few years, I see it can be done," he said.
But Schofield and other trustees argued that the move would potentially throw the board into financial trouble again next year.
Chriss Tricoteux, president of the NWT Teachers' Association for Yellowknife Education District No. 1, said she was satisfied with the board's decision.
"I'm a lot happier now that we have two teachers reinstated. We asked for creative thinking and we got creative thinking."
The remaining teacher cuts will bring the pupil teacher ratio up to 17:1, higher than the current 16.18:1, but still much lower than the 18.86:1 that the government funds for.
Schofield said the board would continue to press the Department of Education, Culture and Employment for more funding, to bring the district in line with the 17.5:1 territorial average. The national average is 16:1.
Pupil to teacher ratios are a measurement used by school boards to compare the number of students to the number of trained teachers in a given area. The number of teachers includes principals, vice-principals, and others employed in a school with teaching degrees. The ratio does not refer to class sizes.
