BY JOHN DECOSTE
Kings County Advertiser/Register
Nova Scotia's education partners are concerned about possible cuts to government education funding.
Annapolis Valley Regional School Board (AVRSB) member Vic Fleury, president of the Nova Scotia School Boards Association (NSSBA), tabled a copy of a letter to Premier Darrell Dexter the Oct. 5 board meeting.
In the Sept. 30 letter, the presidents of the NSSBA, the Nova Scotia Teacher's Union, the Nova Scotia Federation of Home and School Associations, the Federation des Parents Acadiens de la Nouvelle-Ecosse and the Association of Nova Scotia Educational Administrators all expressed concern over the potential impact of an expected $36 million decrease in funding for education.
"We are deeply concerned," the letter stated, "about the funding levels for public schools in this province, and the possible long-term implications a lack of funding will have on our economy and the future of our youth."
The stakeholders requested a meeting with Dexter and his caucus to share "first-hand the funding impacts to the Nova Scotia school system from the cuts to educational funding for this fiscal year."
Fleury explained to his fellow board members a template was sent out at the end of the 2010-2011 school year "asking boards to gauge the impact of funding cuts on the school system." AVRSB director of finance and operations Stuart Jamieson helped with the design of the template.
The template "was shared with superintendents and board chairs a couple of weeks ago", Fleury said, in light of "a $36 million cut and what it will mean."
The information was also shared with the various educational partners leading to the letter to Dexter.
The idea behind it, Fleury said, "is to have dialogue with government before the budget process begins." The partners "spent a fair amount of time in dialogue before deciding to go forward with a unified agenda."
