Vancouver trustees upset by cut to Annual Facilities Grant
Media Release
August 27, 2009

Vancouver school trustees are reeling from Thursday’s announcement of a $10.6 million cut from the Ministry of Education for funds earmarked to pay for building component upgrades and replacements to Vancouver’s elementary and secondary schools.

“To suddenly eliminate the Annual Facilities Grant (AFG) for the coming school year is incomprehensible,” says Patti Bacchus, Chair of the Vancouver Board of Education. “The province’s school trustees voted unanimously at the BC School Trustees Association Annual General Meeting last May to call for the AFG to be increased because it is already inadequate to keep schools in good, up-to-date condition. “The Ministry is making misleading claims that boards have unspent money to tap for next year’s work, but what we have is funding only sufficient to pay the bills for previously committed work performed over the summer. There is no surplus to spend over the coming year,” says Patti Bacchus.

The abrupt cancellation to the AFG will mean the district has to postpone or cancel planned work on facility upgrades to keep its aging building stock in safe, healthy and efficient working order. AFG funds are normally spent on items such as mechanical and electrical upgrades, roof replacements, site improvements, building envelope related work, building modifications to provide disabled access, functional improvements for curriculum requirements, and health and safety issues related to asbestos removal, washroom conditions, and indoor air quality.

School trustee Allan Wong, Chair of the Board’s Facilities and Planning Committee, says the unexpected cut means the board will miss opportunities such as cost-effective upgrading of aging and inefficient mechanical and electrical systems during major seismic upgrades.

“It’s pennywise pound foolish not to do that kind of upgrading when you have the walls out and the work exposed. Where it is sensible to include cost-saving changes while completing seismic upgrades, we are now forced to leave in outdated and energy inefficient equipment leaving the taxpayers with a much larger bill down the road,” explains Wong.

“As we gear up for another year, and face increased challenges stemming from the need to respond to HIN1, this sudden decision puts us an in extremely difficult decision as we look to how we’re going to keep operating safely without the AFG” adds Bacchus.