Vancouver School Board trustees hope a special adviser's review to be completed Monday will result in the province providing more money for staff and programs.
"We are optimistic that it will generate additional funds," Sharon Gregson, chair of the Vancouver School Board's finance committee, said on Wednesday. "We think they can only have found that we are truly underfunded."
The sweeping review has been under way since April 14, when Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid tapped Comptroller-General Cheryl Wenezenki-Yolland to review the Vancouver School Board's books, saying the district appeared "unable or unwilling" to manage its resources to protect student interests.
The appointment followed months of warnings and complaints from the board that government funding was not keeping up with rising costs and that the district faced an $18-million shortfall.
Districts throughout the province have been wrestling with budget issues this spring, with some boards closing schools and laying off staff to balance the books. Under B.C.'s School Act, boards are required to complete budgets for the next school year by June 30 and are not allowed to run deficits.
Ms. MacDiarmid has said she will not comment on the review until after she has received it. The Vancouver School Board last month voted to put off adopting a final budget until the review is completed.
In the meantime, layoff notices have gone out to hundreds of Vancouver teachers, reflecting an earlier decision to eliminate 160 full-time positions. Instructors for the district's itinerant band and strings program were kept out of that round of layoffs pending the results of Ms. Wenezenki-Yolland's review. But the popular music program - which became a lightning rod for public protests over education funding - could still be subject to cuts.
The board last month also voted in favour of a revamped school schedule that will feature a two-week spring break, increased from one week, and four-day weekends throughout the school year. The revised calendar is expected to result in savings of at least $1.2-million a year.
In Langley, teachers and trustees have been engaged in a war of words over financial problems at the district, which last year hired accounting firm Deloitte to review its books after staff found irregularities.
The Deloitte review found numerous problems, including spending being approved without funds being available. The errors resulted from "a breakdown in the system of internal controls" and not board-level decisions, the report said. No instances of intentional misappropriation of funds were identified.
Langley trustees say they have identified $7-million worth of cuts to balance their budget in 2010-2011. The board is also proposing a four-year repayment schedule to tackle an accumulated deficit of $13.5-million. The teachers' union has objected to this year's budget, saying it has been prepared without public consultation and contains deep cuts that will hurt schools and students.