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Sunday, April 27, 2014

Protect Public Education Now

Protect Public Education Now (PPEN) is a new public education advocacy group. Here is there initial message to parents.

You may have heard in the news about the 2014-2015 Proposed Budget for the next school year. In order to balance the budget, many vital programs are facing either complete removal or, at the very least, drastic cuts in service.

We would like to inform you of these cuts - and what you can do, as they will greatly affect your child(ren), many students, and also those with the most need in the schools.

What you should know:

Many cuts have been proposed including eliminating/reducing support for:

Gifted Consultant Position - (pg. 50)
Area Counselor support (pg. 53)
School Psychologists - (pg. 54)
English Language Learner Consultant - (p. 64)
Athletic Coordinator - elimination (pg. 67)

In addition to the cuts, an additional 3 non-instructional days are recommended for the 2014-2015 School Calendar meaning clases for yoru kids would not be offered on November 12, 13, and 14. (see pg. 68)

You'll find the full list in the budget with details starting on page 22.

Here is the link for the 2014-2015 Proposed Budget: http://www.vsb.bc.ca/sites/default/files/2014-2015%20Preliminary%20Budget%20Proposals%20Report%20%28April%208%202014%29.pdf

What you can do to voice your concerns about the proposed VSB Budget Cuts:

Sign the DPAC (District Parent Advisory Council) page and sign the petition to stop these cuts at: http://vsbdpac.ca/petition-for-public-education-funding/

Complete the survey below and share with as many other parents as possible. Input from all parents in the district will help our DPAC to represent all views of parents regarding the proposed budget.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DPACSURVEY2014

Show your support via the NEW parent/citizen advocacy group called “Protect Public Education Now” (PPEN), which includes all the information listed above:

Visit the website at www.ppen.ca and share it with as many other parents as possible.
Like the Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ProtectEducationPPEN.

Attend the next Public Hearing on April 28th at 7:00 pm at the Education Centre.

E-mail the VSB Board of Trustees Chair, Patti Bacchus at patti.bacchus@vsb.bc.ca

Contact the Provincial government know how you feel about the impact of their funding decisions on the VSB, and in turn the students. DPAC (District PAC) have created a funding request letter template for your use if needed.

Here are some email addresses (consider posting any letters or emails you write on the PPEN facebook page):

Christy Clarke, Premier: premier@gov.bc.ca

Peter Fassbender, Education Minister: peter.fassbender.mla@leg.bc.ca

Adrian Dix, MLA Vancouver- Kingsway: adrian.dix.mla@leg.bc.ca

Contact for your local MLA can be found at: http://www.leg.bc.ca/mla/3-1-1.htm

Stay connected:
Here are ways you can stay tuned on the latest news via the DPAC updates:

DPAC Website - e-newsletter signup available: http://vsbdpac.ca/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VanDPAC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VSBDPAC

If you have any questions or concerns with regards to this proposed budget, please feel free to contact PPEN via our facebook page: (https://www.facebook.com/ProtectEducationPPEN)

Thank you for your time, continued support, and attention the above matter.

Sincerely yours,
Members of PPEN

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