As the dust settles on the closure of Mclean Elementary and the movement of the Rossland senior students down to Trail, it is becoming very clear on the gigantic financial screw up SD20 made. The mess is so big that SD20 is now having to cut staff and are considering charging students for bussing because of the pending funding shortfall for next year. A large portion of this deficit is a direct result of closing Mclean and moving the senior students to Trail.
According to an article on the RosslandNews, 36 students left SD20 and are now attending the Seven Summits Centre, which in all accounts was created in frustration with the movement of the senior grades to Trail.
According to the BC government fact sheet on SD20, the per student funding for 2013-14 in SD20 was $9,214
With 36 students gone, that is a decrease in funding of $331,704.
Add to that many elementary students that moved to the French school in frustration and it is probably closer to a $400,000 decrease in revenue.
According to SD20 board chair Darrel Ganzert, who said in a meeting in the RSS gym last year, the yearly savings is about $140,00 (the cost of two guidance councillors is exactly what he said).
So congrats SD20, you are now saving $140,000 per year.
- You spent over $500,000 renovating the RSS building
- The decreased enrolment gives you a loss of $331,704 per student funding per year.
- You sold Mclean Elementary for 1 million, so there is no turning back now.
- Over 300 kids attended Mclean last year, now the school is used for less then 60. (How the French school can afford that I have now idea...But thats a differnet story....)
This is a complete mess. Your lack of vision is costing every student in SD20 what remaining resource we have.