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Thursday, February 27, 2014 Breaking news, sports, and entertainment: www.langleyadvance.com
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Shades of winter
Troy Landreville/Langley Advance
In the wake of the winter storm this week, snow accumulated on a blossoming tree in Sendall Gardens in Langley City. Inset: Streetlights offered an orange hue to the Douglas Park Spirit Square band shell just as the snowfall picked up momentum Saturday evening in Langley City.
Education
Extra teachers would be $23.5 million Hiring enough teachers to follow the B.C. Supreme Court ruling would cost Langley $23.5 million. by Heather Colpitts hcolpitts@langleyadvance.com
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The Langley School District would have to pay an extra $23.5 million to follow the recent B.C. Supreme Court ruling on class size and composition. The B.C. government is appealing the B.C. Supreme Court decision of Jan. 27, which said the government violated the constitutional rights of teachers related to stripping the class size and composition requirements from a 2002 contract. It took more than a decade for a court decision which the provincial government rejected, saying it would cost more than $1 billion to implement the ruling. The Ministry of Education told school districts to cost out the implications of returning to the class size and composition levels. The Langley School Board held a brief discussion of the matter at the public portion of the Feb. 25 board meeting. Langley superintendent
Suzanne Hoffman said the district classrooms reassigned, such as was required to submit an affiturning a computer lab into a davit of its cost estimates using class. the 2002 contract wording. She anticipates having to end “Twenty three million dollars, the contracts with six preschool should we be asked to do that and daycare providers, a loss of for the coming school year,” she $80,000 in income. Other income said. may be lost from reduced capAt that board meeting, the acity for international students. district approved its amended At the meeting, Langley 2013/2014 amended budget Teachers’ Association president of $187 million to educate the Gail Chaddock-Costello outlined district’s approximately the union’s view of 18,000 students. the court ruling and “I think it’s an its implications but important step,” did not present a cost Trustee Megan estimate. The BCTF Dykeman said about has said it would cost making the information about $350 million. public. Chaddock-Costello The affidavit says noted that the school the district would need district has had to close about 228.1 full-time schools and make other equivilent teachers. significant changes in Based on an average of the past to meet educaGail Chaddock$92,000 cost per teachtion requirements. She Costello er (wages, benefits and said the courts have LTA president other costs), that comes told the provincial to just over $20 million government in three for staffing. different rulings that it has erred “We estimate that we may need and it’s time to start working up to 17 portables,” Hoffman’s together. document says. On Wednesday, the B.C. Court Each portable costs $140,000 of Appeal issued a temporary stay for purchase and set up. the earlier B.C. Supreme Court If space can’t be found for the decision. It remains in place until portables, students may have to the province’s appeal is heard, be shifted to other schools and likely May or June. The Supreme
Court ruling struck down the government’s position, basically reinstating class size and composition requirements. As part of the case the BCTF could distribute secret documents of the B.C. cabinet. The stay prevents that. The Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows School District, with about 14,900 students in 2011, has said the court decision would cost it another $5.48 million, according to its affidavit. The $5.48 million consisted of the cost of hiring 36 full-time equivalent classroom teachers, at an estimated cost of $94,530 per teacher, totalling $3.4 million; and 22 full-time equivalent nonenrolling teachers, totalling $2.08 million. There may be additional costs for portables, depending on space needs. Surrey has more than 69,000 students (as of September 2013). It’s affidavit estimate is $40 million for an extra 445 teachers and costs. Langley school board chair Wendy Johnson said Langley did a school by school analysis which other districts did not. “I think what we have is a much more accurate accounting,” she said. – With files from Glacier Media’s Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Times.