Funding for B.C.'s parent advisory councils cut in half

There will be more belt tightening at schools across B.C. this year now that the province has confirmed parent advisory councils, better known as PACs, will have their grants cut.

The annual B.C. gaming grants to the councils will be cut this year from $20 to $10 per student, Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid announced Tuesday.

A total of $7.6 million will go to approximately 1,700 school and district PACs to support extracurricular activities for students.

The cuts come as the government struggles to rein in a $2.8-billion deficit. The minister said she believes most parents would prefer the money be spent directly by the schools rather than through PAC programs.

Parents will pay

But Ann Whiteaker, the president of the B.C. Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils, said the PACs use the grants, along with money they raise in the community, to pay for essential supplies and programs in their local schools.

'It's absolutely going to come from the parents' pockets. Where else are they going to get it from?' —Ann Whiteaker, B.C. Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils

"They're paying for art supplies; they're paying for field trips; they're paying for computers," said Whiteaker.

Now that the funding has been cut, parents will have to dig into their own pockets to pay for everything from field trips to playground equipment to computers, said Whiteaker.

"It's absolutely going to come from the parents' pockets. Where else are they going to get it from?" she said.

But not every parent will have the cash to spare, and NDP education critic Robin Austin said the cuts will hit poorer school districts much harder.

"In some school districts, the parents have the ability and the wherewithal to raise a lot of money by doing their own little fundraisers, but in other parts of the province, it's very, very challenging," said Austin.

The $7.6 million in PAC funding is part of a total $56.2 million in gaming grants allocated to schools. The balance of the funds not going to PACs will pay for meal programs, child and youth workers and other programs that benefit vulnerable students in the public school system, said the ministry.

Cuts to the province's gaming grants program, which distributes revenue from lotteries, bingo halls and casinos in B.C., have affected a wide range of non-profit entities this year, including arts groups, sports groups, rescue services and community service organizations.

Earlier this week, school districts across B.C. also learned their annual facilities grants have been cut this year, meaning many would not have the cash to do planned upgrades and maintenance to schools.