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NEWS photo Cindy Gocdman

NVD LIBRARIAN Sarah Ellis (reading from her latest book Pick Up Sticks) has won the prestigious 1991 Governor General's Awwrd for Children's Literature. Ellis

was co-ordinator of Children's Services at the district library until 1985, when she began part-time reference work at the Capilano branch

time to writing.

Staff layoffs loom in school districts

44 and 45 as budget deficits increase

THE WEST Vancouver District 45 School Board (WVSB)
will be forced to cut staff in the new year if the provincial
education ministry fails to come through with increased
funding for the school district, which is facing a massive
deficit, a school board official has said.

Meanwhile, a recent annou
ment by Education Minister Anita
Hagen that her ministry will con-
sider allowing school boards to
run deficits of up to 2% against
current schoot board budgets of-
fers lite help to the financially-

By Surj Rattan
News Reporter

stricken North Vancouver District
44 School Board (NVSB), board
chairman Marg Jessup said this

week,

Both Jessup and District 45 su-
perintendent of schools Doug
Player were reacting to a letter
Hagen sent to all 75 school boards
in the province saying budget de
icits can not be greater than 2%
and that the money must be paid
back within two years.

‘a don’t think it (2% defi
really solves the problem. You're
just robbing trom Peter to pay
Paul,” said Player.

He added that

the WYSB al-

$500,000 deficit
$30,544,361

has a
current

ready
against its
budget.

Player said that now the new
NDP government has thrown out
Bill 82 and fired compensation
commissioner Ed Lien, the school
district's deficit will likely increase
by $200,000.

Bill 82 allowed Lien to roll back
any public sector collective
agreements he deemed excessive.
However, the WVSB was exempt
from the legislation because it
signed a collective agreement with
the West Vancouver Teachers’
Association (WVTA) prior to Bill
82 becoming law.

The two sides signed a two-year
contract in January that provides
for a salary increase of 5.2% re-

in order to devote more

troactive to July !, 1990 with an
additional 2% wage hike retroac-
tive to Jan. 1, 1991.

Salary increases in the second
year of the contract will be based
on the average teachers’ salaries in
the Vancouver metropolitan area,

Lien rejected several collective
agreements between school boards
and teachers, including a two-year
deal between the NVSB and the
North Vancouver Teachers’
Association.

The Education Ministry has
now told all school boards to pay
their teachers the amount the two
sides oriy,inally settled for. In
North Vancouver, that will mean