Nanaimo Ladysmith School District Board Chair Dot Neary says the close result speaks to the fact trustees are reluctant to make cuts that take away from the classroom.
But the plan to cut the equivalent of 12 full time teaching jobs, 16 full time support worker jobs and 1 admin position passed last night by a vote of 5 to 4.
It will trim a little over 5.4 million dollars from the budget.
Neary says the decisions were not easy ones, but it’s also important they be made locally, and not
passing a balanced budget would risk having the province appoint an administrator as they did with the Cowichan School Board.
The support workers are represented by CUPE.
Local president Rob Zver says those “full time equivalent” numbers hide the true impact on his members through things like reduced hours.
