School District 52 launches survey on proposed budget cuts

School District 52 is turning to the community for some guidance on what they say will be the need for a 4 per cent cut to their budget, or around 1,000,000 dollars.

To gain some idea as to where they might find those savings, the School District is hosting a survey on its website until February 19th.

Transportation appears to be one area where the School District is directing a fair bit of interest towards, with one third of the survey questions addressing the topic of how children get to school and what choices parents and guardians might be willing to make on that theme.

The remainder of the survey deals with some of the core areas of instruction in the School District, with respondents tasked with identifying the ones that they believe hold the most importance.

The survey consists of six questions which cover a number of different scenarios and pose a range of question.

Included in the SD52 Survey is:

A ranking of priorities in four functions of the School District, Instruction, District Administration, Operations and Maintenance and Transportation.

The second question focuses specifically on instruction and outlines eight areas where respondents are asked to rank the categories, listing their thoughts according to what they believe are the level of importance for each. The instruction areas include: Regular Instruction, Career Programs, Library Services, Counselling, Special Education, English Language Learning, Aboriginal Education and School Administration.

Question Three explores the area of Services and Supplies, with respondents once again asked to rank the importance of items from a list of eight, those areas include: Services, Student Transportation, Professional Development and Travel, Rentals and leases, Dues and Fees, Insurance, Supplies and Insurance.

Transportation items make up the focus of the fourth question, with participants asked to note how their children get to school, choosing from a list that includes: Walk or ride a bike, Ride in a Car, Public Transit, Yellow School Bus, or not applicable as the respondent does not have children in the school system.

Transportation is also the subject of the fifth question, with the School District asking that if they were to decide to reduce spending on Transportation, what option would participants choose as the best option.  The three choices are Discontinue the Yellow Bus Service, Charge all users of the service a fee, Charge a user fee with discounts available according to need.

The Survey comes to a conclusion with the opportunity for participants to provide four suggestions for further savings for the School District to consider.

You can submit your contribution to the survey  here.

The School District survey is open to all residents of Prince Rupert, whether they have children in the school system or not.

School District officials will be using the results as part of their consultation process on the Budget as they look to chart the financial path ahead for the public school system in the city.

For more items related to Education on the North Coast see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review