Education Minister Mike Bernier will meet with the chairman of the Vancouver School Board next week.CHAD HIPOLITO/The Globe and Mail
Education Minister Mike Bernier is set to meet with the chairman of the Vancouver School Board next week in hopes of helping trustees submit a balanced budget by the June deadline.
The board has voted 5-4 against a preliminary budget containing a $24-million shortfall.
Chairman Mike Lombardi, three other Vision Vancouver trustees and a lone Green party trustee voted to defeat the proposed budget that was also voted on by four Non-Partisan Association trustees.
The School Act requires boards to submit balanced budgets by June 30, and gives Bernier the power to fire all the Vancouver trustees if they don't comply.
Bernier says firing is a last resort and that he will explore other options, including urging the board to close schools where falling enrolment has left some classrooms empty.
He says Vancouver trustees have a history of approving deficit budgets in preliminary votes but somehow find enough cash to create a surplus by the time the final vote is taken.