The chair of the Vancouver School Board is concerned the provincial government appears to be taking more money away from classrooms.
Every year, the province gives school districts grant money to upgrade their buildings, about $ 110 million in total.
For the upcoming school year, Patti Bacchus says the ministry has told districts it’s giving them $ 15 million in advance for facilities upgrades.
But she says they’re taking that from a separate fund that’s already earmarked for school boards, and not refilling the cash from their own budget.
“So they’re basically picking the pockets of school boards to give them their annual facilities grant. They’ve dowloaded, in my opinion, just over $ 15.6 million worth of funding today.”
A ministry spokesman maintains the action is ‘appropriate’.
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