FRIDAY
January 19, 1996

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WN. Shore Aiert

On the news front:
Rec centre crowd
frustrated in West Van.

Weather

Saturday: Clouds with showers or
flurries, High 5°C, low -3°C.

Keith Rd. collision sends two to hospital

NEWS photo Terry Peters

PARAMEDICS AND North Vancouver City firefighters help a man who hit his head on the windshield of his purked car
after it was hit by a moving car on Wednesday in the 300-block of East Keith Road. The man was getting out of his car
when it was struck. The driver of the moving car was also taken to hospital. Police said she had chest pains.

Education minister
replaces trustees
with hospital boss

EDUCATION MINISTER — Art

Charbonneau fired the trustees of

cash-strapped North Vancouver
District 44 School Board on Thursday.

By lan Noble
News Reporter

The seven trustees were replaced by “official
trustee” Bob Smith, Lions Gate Hospital presi-
dent and chief executive officer.

Charbonneau charged board members with
being “unable or unwilling” to deal with a
deficit that is expected to bit nearly $5 million
by the end of this fiscal year.

He said that deficit, and the bourd’s refusal to
cut a ministry-ordered $500,000 fron this year's
budget. provoked the firing.

“tear think of few instances that call for
such drastic measures us the removal of a board,
but ebviously this board's unwillingness or
incapacity to address its fiscal responsibilities to
this extent haus placed the district in’ serious

financial = danger,”
Charbonneau said.

Smith will assess
the district's current
finances and provide
Charbonneau with a
report.

Charbonneau
cited Smith's “exten-
sive administration
and = finance — back-
ground” in) making
the appointment.

But board chair-
man Guy Heywood
refused to take a
shrinking-violet
approach to the
board's dismissal.

HEYWOOD... firing
“incredibly stupid

and a bit mean-
spirited.”

“Just because | expected it doesn’t mean |
don’t think it's incredibly stupid and a bit mean-
spirited,” he told the News Thursday afternoon,

He said the minister

with school board si

should have sat down
and Jooked at District

44°s books before firing the board.

The school district, Heywood said, has been
utterly frustrated by the minister's response
after u year of asking for his help.

“Instead of providing assistance. we get

shot.” he said.

Heywood reiterated his comention chat

District 44 has not been financially negligent.

He said the quickly deepening deficit has
been caused by 10 years of insutficient funding
from the provincial government and the board's
hands being tied on expenditures by Victoria’s
“bungling” of the collective agreement process.

leywood said the government has taken
over negotiations for teachers’ contracts — the
board's biggest expense: 78.6% of District 44's
$100 million operating budget -— but has not
come up with a new contract.

Also, a government-uppointed arbitrator dis-
missed the bourd’s request to use a financial dis-
tress clause in the contract to vary conditions of
the teachers’ agreement (o match revenues.

The only positive aspect of the firings, he
said. is that the minister, who can break con-
tracts and increase funding. now owns the prob-
lern.

“At the end of the day. | hope the kids in
North Vancouver don't get screwed again.” said
Heywood. “Everything should be done in the
public domain so we can watch and see.”

North Vancouver-Lonsdale MLA David
Schreck, who has twice called for the board's
ouster in the past six months, said anarchy
would result if other boards followed District
d4's example.

“LT believe that the board cannot be allowed to
unilaterally declare how much it will spend
while ignoring tig School Act.” said Schreck.