Cameron Elementary Parent Advisory Council
Parent Input on 2015 Burnaby School District Budget
1. Parent Input Meeting
The Cameron Parent Advisory Council (PAC) held a Budget Input Meeting on March 24, 2015. At
this meeting, the preliminary School District budget was discussed, along with challenges arising
from current funding levels and the Ministry of Education’s requirement for School Districts to
create $29 million in administrative savings.
Overall, parents were deeply concerned about the current levels of funding and the potential for
further cuts and reductions in programs and services.
School Capacity
It is anticipated that Cameron will grow to approximately 400 students next year. The Lougheed
Mall area of Burnaby is growing and, as new developments are built and the Evergreen Line
nears completion, a further increase in students is inevitable. Parents are concerned that the
school is currently over-capacity and enrollment should be capped. Next year, there will be four
portables in use (three classrooms, one music classroom). The school gym is too small to
accommodate the entire school for winter concerts, etc. If funding is not available to support,
maintain, and grow the current infrastructure students will suffer.
Custodian Support and Maintenance
Parents commented that the impact of recent cuts to custodian support has been noticeable.
These concerns include:
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Gates are no longer locked during school hours, raising safety concerns
Lack of salting ice during winter months (children were witnessed falling on un-salted
ground and teaching staff had to salt the school grounds)
No large “winter clean up” of school classrooms
Rodent problem at the school, which has taken months to be properly addressed
Support for Children with Special Needs
The commitment of Cameron’s teaching and support staff to students with special needs is
unquestioned, however parents feel the current level of staffing and funding is inadequate. It is
only through creativity, determination, and dedication to students that their needs are being met.
Any reduction to Education Assistant or Learning Support Teacher staffing levels would have a
serious impact on students with special needs, and their access to education.
Cameron Elementary Parent Advisory Council
Parent Input on 2015 Burnaby School District Budget
Music, Library, and English Language Learner (ELL) Programs
Cameron is proud to be a very diverse school with a large ELL community. Currently, 46% of
Cameron students speak a language other than English at home. Cuts to support for English
Language Learners would have a huge negative impact on our learners.
Burnaby has one of the best music education programs in British Columbia, and Cameron
parents strongly oppose any cuts to music staffing. Cameron’s music program plays an
important role in bringing the school community together through performances, and is
particularly successful at engaging students with special needs and English Language Learners.
One of Cameron’s school goals is to improve student achievement from K-7 in reading
comprehension. This cannot be obtained without a strong library program. Parent volunteers
and the PAC work with Cameron’s Teacher-Librarian Ms Kirzner, and value her hard work. For
example, she facilitated the innovative Hour of Code event, at which every Cameron student
from Kindergarten to Grade 7 was given the opportunity to learn basic coding.
Information Technology (IT) Support and Resources
The Cameron PAC fundraised and purchased six EZ Robots for students to explore robotics and
basic programming. The robots were set up and tested by an enthusiastic group of students
from Grades 4-7. Unfortunately, the software for the robots can only be installed by District IT
staff who have Administrator rights on the computers. A request was put in months ago,
however no IT staff are available to come to the school. At this point, some of the students who
worked hard to assemble the robots may graduate before they can be used in the classroom.
To help students work with current technology, the Cameron PAC fundraised to purchase 12
new laptops, a laptop cart, and a colour printer for the school. These are basic educational tools
that should not have to be fundraised for.
2. Parent Input Survey
At the Parent Input Meeting it was decided to create an online survey to give parents who could
not attend further opportunity to provide comments on the budget.
Information on the budget, including the District’s preliminary budget presentation and several
newspaper articles, was sent via the school ListServ and posted on the PAC website at
www.cameronpac.ca.
The survey laid out some of the more difficult potential choices facing the District and School
Board. This was to underpin the extent of the funding shortfalls, and give parents insight into the
decisions faced by District and School Board.
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Cameron Elementary Parent Advisory Council
Parent Input on 2015 Burnaby School District Budget
Question 1: When cost-savings are being considered, where should the School District
start? *
*Note: Administrative savings were not provided as an option as the District had communicated that there
is little room for cuts in this area.
The above options provoked much discussion among parents. The general consensus was that,
with the exception of promoting green initiatives, they are impossible to rank:
“I was sent a survey today from my son's school. I don't see an option for "tell the
government to fund education properly". Though there is a comment section. I don't
want to rank these things. I shouldn't need to do this! It shouldn't have come to this, and
I know it'll only get worse”
Of the 28 responses received to the survey, responses ranked as follows (in order of most
preferred to least preferred):
Avg Ranking
Promote green initiatives (e.g., email all notices, use less electricity)
5.75
Transfer some costs to parents (printing, photocopying, classroom supplies,
etc.)
4.46
Reduce custodial staff (currently part-time)
3.57
Increase class sizes
2.89
Reduce non-enrolling teachers (e.g., library, music, ESL, counselling)
2.75
Reduce support for students with special needs
1.57
As evidenced by the comments below, parents do not want to see any of the above carried out,
however cost-saving measures that do not directly impact students are preferable.
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Cameron Elementary Parent Advisory Council
Parent Input on 2015 Burnaby School District Budget
Question 2: Do you have any comments on the suggestions listed above?
“This is a list of things that are all important. Almost impossible to put in order from most
to least preferred. I would like them all to be in the top two, and find it hard to believe
you can't come up with better ways to reduce costs.”
“There needs to be an increase in support for special needs students. Kids with autism
get money from the autism-funding unit and this is not being used on kids with autism!”
“I have two daughters, one of which is special needs. That would be the most important
for me but all of the other things would equally rate as second important.”
“Increasing the class sizes, then reduce teachers? Downsizing is not a good solution for
all.”
“Can some basic custodial work be delegated through voluntary efforts to different
student groups periodically? Teaching opportunity for separation of recyclables etc. from
real garbage.”
“Eliminate Strong Start program.”
“Allow for the recruitment of non-union-trained teachers, and increase the supply of
teachers.”
“This is legitimately outrageous. The only worthwhile suggestion is going more green, as
you DO go through a lot of paper. I'm sincerely hoping that you communicate to the
School Board and the Ministry that this is ludicrous, and instead should be looking at
reducing the outlandish tax cuts that corporations get instead of hitting education up for
funds.”
Question 3: Do you have any other comments or suggestions for cost-savings?
“Its always encouraging to know that the provincial government can prioritize money
towards a roof for a sports stadium and then nickel and dime our children's education.”
“Not here. We need to save our money from other sectors.”
“List a number of sponsorships for any items being cut back and see if some parents
would be willing to finance some of the measures being targeted for cuts. (Far fetched,
but some creativity may go a long way here.)”
“Turn off all unnecessary lights.”
“Use more e-teaching methods similar to online universities”
“Sure. Reduce MLA salaries.”
“Instead of PAC fundraising, etc. Ask each family to provide $100 per child/student at
beginning of year.”
“Shorten the school day.”
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Cameron Elementary Parent Advisory Council
Parent Input on 2015 Burnaby School District Budget
3. Summary
The Cameron Elementary PAC strongly supports the resolutions passed by the Burnaby DPAC
on February 23, 2015, that:
The Burnaby DPAC will take a position against the education funding cuts by Provincial
Government of British Columbia.
The Burnaby DPAC asserts that School Districts should not be penalized by provincial
funding cuts to education if they have already found savings in administrative efficiencies
We acknowledge that the Burnaby School District and School Board have extremely difficult
decisions to make, and are legally required to produce a balanced budget. We encourage the
School Board to stand up and speak out for our children to ensure they continue receiving the
very best of public education in Burnaby.
Cameron Elementary Parent Advisory Council
April 2015
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