Rise from Committee of the Whole

Statement Watch

Good evening. My name is Freddie Zhang. My name is Jalene Mallett. My name is Selena Sharma. I'm with the Vancouver District Students Council. Good evening. My name is Angie Haviman. I'm the president of the VASA Association for Secondary Administrators in the District. And with me is Benita Kwon. I'm the representative for VASA for the Finance and Personnel Committee. My name is Suzette Magary. I'm with QP 15. my name is russell green i'm also with qb vocal 15 i'm a national representative thank you for having me stephen leon representing vepfa dina kotak buckley representing vepfa rob mcgowan representing the adult educators jody polakashko my pronouns are she her and i'm representing face vancouver elementary and adult educators

Carl Janzy, Vancouver Secondary Teachers Association, he, him.

Joan Silver, VSTA, he, him. I'm a VP along with Carl. I'm Angela Waterlow, Vancouver District PAC.

wonderful thank you all for being here this is an important part of what we do and you have all worked hard over the last year and quite frankly over the last four years of our term and so because of the work you do we're able to do the work that we have to do as a as a board so thank you very much for for all you do first we will move to dissolve this special board meeting into a committee of the whole which will give the board the opportunity to hear from you all, representatives and our interest holder groups on our draft 2026-27 financial plan. So we require a motion. Trustee Ma, would you like to move that the board dissolve itself into the Committee of the Whole? Is there a seconder? Thank you, Trustee Fraser. I'll ask all those in favor. Okay, it's unanimous. Thank you very much. And trustee Reddy, we now see you on the screen. Hello. Before we hear from our first presenters, I just want to review a couple of procedural items. So time allotted, if you guys can read that fine print, time allotted is five minutes, and every effort should be made to stay within that time limit. Please, presenters are expected to comply with board norms, as I mentioned earlier, decorum, respect, et cetera. Presenters must avoid disclosing personal information. Please and thank you. We don't want to infringe on anyone's individual privacy. Board members may direct questions for clarification through me. However, matters are not to be debated and no decisions are going to be made tonight. All attendees are expected to behave respectfully, professionally, and disruptions or personal attacks made are inappropriate and we will ask that you leave if so happens. And a timer, of course, will be used, and at five minutes, the timer will go off. Our first presenters tonight, going to item number three, which is all of our presentations, our first presenters are from our students, our Vancouver District Student Council. So we have Jalene, Selena, and Freddie. Would you please enlighten us with your presentation? Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is Jalene Mallet and I am the co-president of VDSC. My name is Selena Sharma and I'm the other co-president of VDSC. And my name is Freddie Zhang and I'm the student trustee. Next slide, please. Today, we are here to speak on behalf of the Vancouver District Students Council, composed of student representatives from all 18 secondary schools working to gather diverse perspectives on VSB initiatives as a district stakeholder group representing students. Before we begin our presentation, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to the VSB on behalf of VSC and the 50,000 students for the board's continuing support of students and for this opportunity to advocate for our priorities in the 2026 to 2027 budget. Next slide, please. To gather diverse student perspectives on the budget, BDAC created a short survey distributed district-wide, open from January to February. These engagement efforts led to nearly 300 survey responses. Beyond the survey, BDAC also conducted three engagement sessions in December, February, and March with students from all 18 secondary schools. Next slide, please. First, throughout our engagement, we heard that access to STEM resources across the district is inconsistent. Many advanced courses and extracurricular opportunities require specialized equipment that may not be available at every school. Students at smaller schools reported fewer course options and limited access to hands-on materials, as well as concerns about the condition of lab equipment and safety supplies. When STEM resources are inactively distributed, it limits the quality of learning, and most critically, risks discouraging female, BIPOC, and students with diverse abilities from seeing science as a path in their future. As a group, we recommend that the board consider funding to ensure consistent access to safe, up-to-date STEM resources that support student curiosity and achievement. Next slide, please. We also heard strong interest in responsible AI in education. In our survey, over 50% of students said their schools can improve instruction on the safe and ethical use of AI. As AI becomes more common in schools in everyday life, students expressed a need for consistent guidance and resources across schools. This could include in-person lessons or online learning opportunities, as long as access is equitable. VDSC believes that dedicated funding can help support these AI learning opportunities and ensure that they are delivered equitably across the district. Next slide, please. In recent years, washroom facilities have consistently been an area of focus for VDSC. In our student budget survey, over 60% of the feedback we received on facilities issues was bathroom-related, and a majority of students described the condition of their school's facilities as poor or fair. We are very grateful that $485,000 has been allocated towards improving washroom facilities in the draft financial plan. VDSC looks forward to collaborating on the delivery of this funding across schools. Next slide, please. Another priority voiced by students was a lack of food accommodations for cultural and dietary preferences district-wide. Beyond its health benefits, VDSC's engagement has shown that students value food for the sense of belonging and comfort. Having lunch with friends has helped build social connections and foster an inclusive and positive school environment. Next slide, please. As shown here, 65% of students share that the food at their school is not affordable, compared to 35% who found a very affordable, or affordable. In the surveys, students also reported limited options at their schools that met their nutritional goals. Over 60% of the respondents said that the food offered is not nutritious. Students with allergies who are vegan or have religious requirements for food have also expressed a need to see dietary accommodating food options. BDSC hopes that the board can fund the expansion of food programs to make them more inclusive, affordable and nutritious. Next slide, please. Lastly students across the district continue to identify mental health and well-being as an important part of their school experiences. Students share the support such as school counselors teachers and support workers meaningfully help in addressing challenges and supporting well-being. Next slide please. As shown in this graph some students share that access to these supports can be limited. Students reported that counselors often support many students at once making it challenging for some to access timely support when needed. Next slide please. Based on this feedback, BDSC would like to ask the board to consider exploring opportunities to improve mental health support and awareness of community resources. Workshops and learning sessions related to mental health, including a possible train-the-trainer model for student leadership, may also be positive additions. Lastly, the board may also wish to consider adding trauma-informed practices, including considering student perspectives and emergency preparedness and threat assessment training. Thank you for this opportunity to highlight student voice priorities, which we hope can be considered in the upcoming financial plan.

Thank you very much. I would like to say every time that you come to present to the board, you're very professional and are doing a great job as voices of the students. So I want to just say thank you very much. Before we move forward, I want to acknowledge Trustee Chan-Pedley. Thank you for joining us tonight. Moving to my colleagues. Are there any questions? Oh, actually, before we go ahead, do we have access to your presentation? I don't see it provided to us beforehand, and I'm wondering if that has been... We do have it. Okay, we have it. We'll get to it. Thank you. Would you mind sharing that with us? Thank you. Trustees, any questions? Trustee Reddy.

Thanks, Chair, and thanks to the students. I think it's Freddie, Jolene and Selina for presenting. I just had two kind of follow up questions. I know you covered quite a bit in the five minutes, but one of the items that you mentioned was about STEM materials. Could you detail a bit more of what do you mean, for example, like for a student on a daily basis in a classroom? Could you draw out a little bit of what you mean specifically in terms of materials? Is it more like textbooks or like kind of more tools or a little bit of both or something else like the infrastructure? And I have a follow up as well.

Thank you for the question. In our budget survey we heard that materials like lab equipment so that could include glassware. Um, safety supplies like goggles or microscopes used in some courses can sometimes be limited, um, as well as, um, you know, things like textbooks and, um, resources like that, that can help students to prepare for extracurricular opportunities.

You have a follow up trustee ready.

I do. Yeah. Thanks for the detail there. Um, my second follow-up was just about what you mentioned about food nutrition so if you could say more was there any other information in your survey about what students assessments were about those kind of nutritional needs or requirements that that they desired to have those met if you could detail anything there

Yeah, of course. So based on the survey, a lot of students kind of expressed how most of the foods offered weren't really aligned with like guidelines created by like the federal and provincial governments and stuff. Like a lot of them don't really meet their nutritional value, especially in terms of those who kind of experience like dietary needs and stuff. a lot of vegetarians or vegans found that they didn't really have many options for them or those with like different like allergies or diseases had no options whatsoever. So those are like the main general responses that we've received from this, but yeah.

Statement Watch

Good evening. My name is Freddie Zhang. My name is Jalene Mallett. My name is Selena Sharma. I'm with the Vancouver District Students Council. Good evening. My name is Angie Haviman. I'm the president of the VASA Association for Secondary Administrators in the District. And with me is Benita Kwon. I'm the representative for VASA for the Finance and Personnel Committee. My name is Suzette Magary. I'm with QP 15. my name is russell green i'm also with qb vocal 15 i'm a national representative thank you for having me stephen leon representing vepfa dina kotak buckley representing vepfa rob mcgowan representing the adult educators jody polakashko my pronouns are she her and i'm representing face vancouver elementary and adult educators

Carl Janzy, Vancouver Secondary Teachers Association, he, him.

Joan Silver, VSTA, he, him. I'm a VP along with Carl. I'm Angela Waterlow, Vancouver District PAC.

wonderful thank you all for being here this is an important part of what we do and you have all worked hard over the last year and quite frankly over the last four years of our term and so because of the work you do we're able to do the work that we have to do as a as a board so thank you very much for for all you do first we will move to dissolve this special board meeting into a committee of the whole which will give the board the opportunity to hear from you all, representatives and our interest holder groups on our draft 2026-27 financial plan. So we require a motion. Trustee Ma, would you like to move that the board dissolve itself into the Committee of the Whole? Is there a seconder? Thank you, Trustee Fraser. I'll ask all those in favor. Okay, it's unanimous. Thank you very much. And trustee Reddy, we now see you on the screen. Hello. Before we hear from our first presenters, I just want to review a couple of procedural items. So time allotted, if you guys can read that fine print, time allotted is five minutes, and every effort should be made to stay within that time limit. Please, presenters are expected to comply with board norms, as I mentioned earlier, decorum, respect, et cetera. Presenters must avoid disclosing personal information. Please and thank you. We don't want to infringe on anyone's individual privacy. Board members may direct questions for clarification through me. However, matters are not to be debated and no decisions are going to be made tonight. All attendees are expected to behave respectfully, professionally, and disruptions or personal attacks made are inappropriate and we will ask that you leave if so happens. And a timer, of course, will be used, and at five minutes, the timer will go off. Our first presenters tonight, going to item number three, which is all of our presentations, our first presenters are from our students, our Vancouver District Student Council. So we have Jalene, Selena, and Freddie. Would you please enlighten us with your presentation? Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is Jalene Mallet and I am the co-president of VDSC. My name is Selena Sharma and I'm the other co-president of VDSC. And my name is Freddie Zhang and I'm the student trustee. Next slide, please. Today, we are here to speak on behalf of the Vancouver District Students Council, composed of student representatives from all 18 secondary schools working to gather diverse perspectives on VSB initiatives as a district stakeholder group representing students. Before we begin our presentation, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to the VSB on behalf of VSC and the 50,000 students for the board's continuing support of students and for this opportunity to advocate for our priorities in the 2026 to 2027 budget. Next slide, please. To gather diverse student perspectives on the budget, BDAC created a short survey distributed district-wide, open from January to February. These engagement efforts led to nearly 300 survey responses. Beyond the survey, BDAC also conducted three engagement sessions in December, February, and March with students from all 18 secondary schools. Next slide, please. First, throughout our engagement, we heard that access to STEM resources across the district is inconsistent. Many advanced courses and extracurricular opportunities require specialized equipment that may not be available at every school. Students at smaller schools reported fewer course options and limited access to hands-on materials, as well as concerns about the condition of lab equipment and safety supplies. When STEM resources are inactively distributed, it limits the quality of learning, and most critically, risks discouraging female, BIPOC, and students with diverse abilities from seeing science as a path in their future. As a group, we recommend that the board consider funding to ensure consistent access to safe, up-to-date STEM resources that support student curiosity and achievement. Next slide, please. We also heard strong interest in responsible AI in education. In our survey, over 50% of students said their schools can improve instruction on the safe and ethical use of AI. As AI becomes more common in schools in everyday life, students expressed a need for consistent guidance and resources across schools. This could include in-person lessons or online learning opportunities, as long as access is equitable. VDSC believes that dedicated funding can help support these AI learning opportunities and ensure that they are delivered equitably across the district. Next slide, please. In recent years, washroom facilities have consistently been an area of focus for VDSC. In our student budget survey, over 60% of the feedback we received on facilities issues was bathroom-related, and a majority of students described the condition of their school's facilities as poor or fair. We are very grateful that $485,000 has been allocated towards improving washroom facilities in the draft financial plan. VDSC looks forward to collaborating on the delivery of this funding across schools. Next slide, please. Another priority voiced by students was a lack of food accommodations for cultural and dietary preferences district-wide. Beyond its health benefits, VDSC's engagement has shown that students value food for the sense of belonging and comfort. Having lunch with friends has helped build social connections and foster an inclusive and positive school environment. Next slide, please. As shown here, 65% of students share that the food at their school is not affordable, compared to 35% who found a very affordable, or affordable. In the surveys, students also reported limited options at their schools that met their nutritional goals. Over 60% of the respondents said that the food offered is not nutritious. Students with allergies who are vegan or have religious requirements for food have also expressed a need to see dietary accommodating food options. BDSC hopes that the board can fund the expansion of food programs to make them more inclusive, affordable and nutritious. Next slide, please. Lastly students across the district continue to identify mental health and well-being as an important part of their school experiences. Students share the support such as school counselors teachers and support workers meaningfully help in addressing challenges and supporting well-being. Next slide please. As shown in this graph some students share that access to these supports can be limited. Students reported that counselors often support many students at once making it challenging for some to access timely support when needed. Next slide please. Based on this feedback, BDSC would like to ask the board to consider exploring opportunities to improve mental health support and awareness of community resources. Workshops and learning sessions related to mental health, including a possible train-the-trainer model for student leadership, may also be positive additions. Lastly, the board may also wish to consider adding trauma-informed practices, including considering student perspectives and emergency preparedness and threat assessment training. Thank you for this opportunity to highlight student voice priorities, which we hope can be considered in the upcoming financial plan.

Thank you very much. I would like to say every time that you come to present to the board, you're very professional and are doing a great job as voices of the students. So I want to just say thank you very much. Before we move forward, I want to acknowledge Trustee Chan-Pedley. Thank you for joining us tonight. Moving to my colleagues. Are there any questions? Oh, actually, before we go ahead, do we have access to your presentation? I don't see it provided to us beforehand, and I'm wondering if that has been... We do have it. Okay, we have it. We'll get to it. Thank you. Would you mind sharing that with us? Thank you. Trustees, any questions? Trustee Reddy.

Thanks, Chair, and thanks to the students. I think it's Freddie, Jolene and Selina for presenting. I just had two kind of follow up questions. I know you covered quite a bit in the five minutes, but one of the items that you mentioned was about STEM materials. Could you detail a bit more of what do you mean, for example, like for a student on a daily basis in a classroom? Could you draw out a little bit of what you mean specifically in terms of materials? Is it more like textbooks or like kind of more tools or a little bit of both or something else like the infrastructure? And I have a follow up as well.

Thank you for the question. In our budget survey we heard that materials like lab equipment so that could include glassware. Um, safety supplies like goggles or microscopes used in some courses can sometimes be limited, um, as well as, um, you know, things like textbooks and, um, resources like that, that can help students to prepare for extracurricular opportunities.

You have a follow up trustee ready.

I do. Yeah. Thanks for the detail there. Um, my second follow-up was just about what you mentioned about food nutrition so if you could say more was there any other information in your survey about what students assessments were about those kind of nutritional needs or requirements that that they desired to have those met if you could detail anything there

Yeah, of course. So based on the survey, a lot of students kind of expressed how most of the foods offered weren't really aligned with like guidelines created by like the federal and provincial governments and stuff. Like a lot of them don't really meet their nutritional value, especially in terms of those who kind of experience like dietary needs and stuff. a lot of vegetarians or vegans found that they didn't really have many options for them or those with like different like allergies or diseases had no options whatsoever. So those are like the main general responses that we've received from this, but yeah.

Statement Watch

Good evening. My name is Freddie Zhang. My name is Jalene Mallett. My name is Selena Sharma. I'm with the Vancouver District Students Council. Good evening. My name is Angie Haviman. I'm the president of the VASA Association for Secondary Administrators in the District. And with me is Benita Kwon. I'm the representative for VASA for the Finance and Personnel Committee. My name is Suzette Magary. I'm with QP 15. my name is russell green i'm also with qb vocal 15 i'm a national representative thank you for having me stephen leon representing vepfa dina kotak buckley representing vepfa rob mcgowan representing the adult educators jody polakashko my pronouns are she her and i'm representing face vancouver elementary and adult educators

Carl Janzy, Vancouver Secondary Teachers Association, he, him.

Joan Silver, VSTA, he, him. I'm a VP along with Carl. I'm Angela Waterlow, Vancouver District PAC.

wonderful thank you all for being here this is an important part of what we do and you have all worked hard over the last year and quite frankly over the last four years of our term and so because of the work you do we're able to do the work that we have to do as a as a board so thank you very much for for all you do first we will move to dissolve this special board meeting into a committee of the whole which will give the board the opportunity to hear from you all, representatives and our interest holder groups on our draft 2026-27 financial plan. So we require a motion. Trustee Ma, would you like to move that the board dissolve itself into the Committee of the Whole? Is there a seconder? Thank you, Trustee Fraser. I'll ask all those in favor. Okay, it's unanimous. Thank you very much. And trustee Reddy, we now see you on the screen. Hello. Before we hear from our first presenters, I just want to review a couple of procedural items. So time allotted, if you guys can read that fine print, time allotted is five minutes, and every effort should be made to stay within that time limit. Please, presenters are expected to comply with board norms, as I mentioned earlier, decorum, respect, et cetera. Presenters must avoid disclosing personal information. Please and thank you. We don't want to infringe on anyone's individual privacy. Board members may direct questions for clarification through me. However, matters are not to be debated and no decisions are going to be made tonight. All attendees are expected to behave respectfully, professionally, and disruptions or personal attacks made are inappropriate and we will ask that you leave if so happens. And a timer, of course, will be used, and at five minutes, the timer will go off. Our first presenters tonight, going to item number three, which is all of our presentations, our first presenters are from our students, our Vancouver District Student Council. So we have Jalene, Selena, and Freddie. Would you please enlighten us with your presentation? Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is Jalene Mallet and I am the co-president of VDSC. My name is Selena Sharma and I'm the other co-president of VDSC. And my name is Freddie Zhang and I'm the student trustee. Next slide, please. Today, we are here to speak on behalf of the Vancouver District Students Council, composed of student representatives from all 18 secondary schools working to gather diverse perspectives on VSB initiatives as a district stakeholder group representing students. Before we begin our presentation, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to the VSB on behalf of VSC and the 50,000 students for the board's continuing support of students and for this opportunity to advocate for our priorities in the 2026 to 2027 budget. Next slide, please. To gather diverse student perspectives on the budget, BDAC created a short survey distributed district-wide, open from January to February. These engagement efforts led to nearly 300 survey responses. Beyond the survey, BDAC also conducted three engagement sessions in December, February, and March with students from all 18 secondary schools. Next slide, please. First, throughout our engagement, we heard that access to STEM resources across the district is inconsistent. Many advanced courses and extracurricular opportunities require specialized equipment that may not be available at every school. Students at smaller schools reported fewer course options and limited access to hands-on materials, as well as concerns about the condition of lab equipment and safety supplies. When STEM resources are inactively distributed, it limits the quality of learning, and most critically, risks discouraging female, BIPOC, and students with diverse abilities from seeing science as a path in their future. As a group, we recommend that the board consider funding to ensure consistent access to safe, up-to-date STEM resources that support student curiosity and achievement. Next slide, please. We also heard strong interest in responsible AI in education. In our survey, over 50% of students said their schools can improve instruction on the safe and ethical use of AI. As AI becomes more common in schools in everyday life, students expressed a need for consistent guidance and resources across schools. This could include in-person lessons or online learning opportunities, as long as access is equitable. VDSC believes that dedicated funding can help support these AI learning opportunities and ensure that they are delivered equitably across the district. Next slide, please. In recent years, washroom facilities have consistently been an area of focus for VDSC. In our student budget survey, over 60% of the feedback we received on facilities issues was bathroom-related, and a majority of students described the condition of their school's facilities as poor or fair. We are very grateful that $485,000 has been allocated towards improving washroom facilities in the draft financial plan. VDSC looks forward to collaborating on the delivery of this funding across schools. Next slide, please. Another priority voiced by students was a lack of food accommodations for cultural and dietary preferences district-wide. Beyond its health benefits, VDSC's engagement has shown that students value food for the sense of belonging and comfort. Having lunch with friends has helped build social connections and foster an inclusive and positive school environment. Next slide, please. As shown here, 65% of students share that the food at their school is not affordable, compared to 35% who found a very affordable, or affordable. In the surveys, students also reported limited options at their schools that met their nutritional goals. Over 60% of the respondents said that the food offered is not nutritious. Students with allergies who are vegan or have religious requirements for food have also expressed a need to see dietary accommodating food options. BDSC hopes that the board can fund the expansion of food programs to make them more inclusive, affordable and nutritious. Next slide, please. Lastly students across the district continue to identify mental health and well-being as an important part of their school experiences. Students share the support such as school counselors teachers and support workers meaningfully help in addressing challenges and supporting well-being. Next slide please. As shown in this graph some students share that access to these supports can be limited. Students reported that counselors often support many students at once making it challenging for some to access timely support when needed. Next slide please. Based on this feedback, BDSC would like to ask the board to consider exploring opportunities to improve mental health support and awareness of community resources. Workshops and learning sessions related to mental health, including a possible train-the-trainer model for student leadership, may also be positive additions. Lastly, the board may also wish to consider adding trauma-informed practices, including considering student perspectives and emergency preparedness and threat assessment training. Thank you for this opportunity to highlight student voice priorities, which we hope can be considered in the upcoming financial plan.

Thank you very much. I would like to say every time that you come to present to the board, you're very professional and are doing a great job as voices of the students. So I want to just say thank you very much. Before we move forward, I want to acknowledge Trustee Chan-Pedley. Thank you for joining us tonight. Moving to my colleagues. Are there any questions? Oh, actually, before we go ahead, do we have access to your presentation? I don't see it provided to us beforehand, and I'm wondering if that has been... We do have it. Okay, we have it. We'll get to it. Thank you. Would you mind sharing that with us? Thank you. Trustees, any questions? Trustee Reddy.

Thanks, Chair, and thanks to the students. I think it's Freddie, Jolene and Selina for presenting. I just had two kind of follow up questions. I know you covered quite a bit in the five minutes, but one of the items that you mentioned was about STEM materials. Could you detail a bit more of what do you mean, for example, like for a student on a daily basis in a classroom? Could you draw out a little bit of what you mean specifically in terms of materials? Is it more like textbooks or like kind of more tools or a little bit of both or something else like the infrastructure? And I have a follow up as well.

Thank you for the question. In our budget survey we heard that materials like lab equipment so that could include glassware. Um, safety supplies like goggles or microscopes used in some courses can sometimes be limited, um, as well as, um, you know, things like textbooks and, um, resources like that, that can help students to prepare for extracurricular opportunities.

You have a follow up trustee ready.

I do. Yeah. Thanks for the detail there. Um, my second follow-up was just about what you mentioned about food nutrition so if you could say more was there any other information in your survey about what students assessments were about those kind of nutritional needs or requirements that that they desired to have those met if you could detail anything there

Yeah, of course. So based on the survey, a lot of students kind of expressed how most of the foods offered weren't really aligned with like guidelines created by like the federal and provincial governments and stuff. Like a lot of them don't really meet their nutritional value, especially in terms of those who kind of experience like dietary needs and stuff. a lot of vegetarians or vegans found that they didn't really have many options for them or those with like different like allergies or diseases had no options whatsoever. So those are like the main general responses that we've received from this, but yeah.

Statement Watch

Thanks, go ahead. Trustees, educators, workers, and members of the community. My name is Suzette Magri and I am an office supportee in district learning services. And I represent CUPE Local 15 on the bargaining committee, the finance committee, and several other VSB committees. I've worked at the VSB for almost 25 years, and I deeply care about student success. I'm here tonight to share CUPE Local 15's perspective on the 2026-27 draft financial plan. At its core, the purpose of the public school system is simple, to educate students, support their growth, and prepare them for their future. That work doesn't happen in isolation. It depends on dedicated CUPE members who support students year round and help deliver high quality, accessible and inclusive education across the district. Tonight, I want to talk about why frontline learning and student success must remain at the heart of the VSB's work and why cutting specialized roles that directly support students takes us in the wrong direction. When students feel supported, they do better. It's that simple. CUPE 15 members show up every day with care and compassion, helping to ensure students feel seen, supported, and set up to succeed. Our first concern with the draft budget is the proposed cuts to the SSB positions. While we recognize and welcome the increase in the SSA staffing, the loss of SSB positions is deeply concerning. These roles provide specialized support for students who need it the most. Programs like Excel, Core, and Social Development serve some of the most vulnerable students in our district. These are not students who can afford to lose support. They need more care and attention, not less. Our second concern is the loss of Swiss workers. These workers play a unique and essential role in supporting students and families from multicultural backgrounds. They help to bridge language and cultural gaps, connect families to schools, and support students as they integrate into their communities. Swiss workers often are translators, community liaisons, and one of the first points of contact for new Canadians who choose Vancouver as their home. Our third concern is the potential impact this budget could have on classroom safety for both students and staff. Moving away from specialized programs towards more generalized student model risks putting additional strain on classrooms. We could see students from behavior programs placed into settings that no longer have specialized support they previously relied on. While there is an increase in SSA, FTE, those workers are entering an already strained school environment. As outlined in the draft financial plan, level two students' needs are increasing. Many SSAs have shared that they don't always have the training or expertise to support students with complex needs. Right now, those needs are being met by SSAs across the district, pardon me, SSBs across the district. With this budget, those positions are at risk. CUPE Local 15 is also concerned about the transition from an internal printing service to an internal model. The VSB is the only school district that owns its own print services. Moving to an internal model may offer short-term savings, but it limits long-term opportunities to generate revenue. district needs creative solutions and the print shop could be an asset not a liability in closing students who require additional supports whether due to learning differences language barriers or social challenges are often those hit hardest by staffing cuts especially when those cuts target specialized programs reducing these roles impacts the students who need the most help The VSB has a responsibility to hold up the quality and accessibility of public education. That means recognizing that frontline learning is strengthened by student support workers, OAs, ITs, and the many other roles QP15 members provide to this district. Properly resourcing these roles helps create safer schools, higher quality education, and better outcomes for students, families, and the entire community. I thank you for your time and your consideration.

Statement Watch

Good evening. My name is Freddie Zhang. My name is Jalene Mallett. My name is Selena Sharma. I'm with the Vancouver District Students Council. Good evening. My name is Angie Haviman. I'm the president of the VASA Association for Secondary Administrators in the District. And with me is Benita Kwon. I'm the representative for VASA for the Finance and Personnel Committee. My name is Suzette Magary. I'm with QP 15. my name is russell green i'm also with qb vocal 15 i'm a national representative thank you for having me stephen leon representing vepfa dina kotak buckley representing vepfa rob mcgowan representing the adult educators jody polakashko my pronouns are she her and i'm representing face vancouver elementary and adult educators

Carl Janzy, Vancouver Secondary Teachers Association, he, him.

Joan Silver, VSTA, he, him. I'm a VP along with Carl. I'm Angela Waterlow, Vancouver District PAC.

wonderful thank you all for being here this is an important part of what we do and you have all worked hard over the last year and quite frankly over the last four years of our term and so because of the work you do we're able to do the work that we have to do as a as a board so thank you very much for for all you do first we will move to dissolve this special board meeting into a committee of the whole which will give the board the opportunity to hear from you all, representatives and our interest holder groups on our draft 2026-27 financial plan. So we require a motion. Trustee Ma, would you like to move that the board dissolve itself into the Committee of the Whole? Is there a seconder? Thank you, Trustee Fraser. I'll ask all those in favor. Okay, it's unanimous. Thank you very much. And trustee Reddy, we now see you on the screen. Hello. Before we hear from our first presenters, I just want to review a couple of procedural items. So time allotted, if you guys can read that fine print, time allotted is five minutes, and every effort should be made to stay within that time limit. Please, presenters are expected to comply with board norms, as I mentioned earlier, decorum, respect, et cetera. Presenters must avoid disclosing personal information. Please and thank you. We don't want to infringe on anyone's individual privacy. Board members may direct questions for clarification through me. However, matters are not to be debated and no decisions are going to be made tonight. All attendees are expected to behave respectfully, professionally, and disruptions or personal attacks made are inappropriate and we will ask that you leave if so happens. And a timer, of course, will be used, and at five minutes, the timer will go off. Our first presenters tonight, going to item number three, which is all of our presentations, our first presenters are from our students, our Vancouver District Student Council. So we have Jalene, Selena, and Freddie. Would you please enlighten us with your presentation? Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is Jalene Mallet and I am the co-president of VDSC. My name is Selena Sharma and I'm the other co-president of VDSC. And my name is Freddie Zhang and I'm the student trustee. Next slide, please. Today, we are here to speak on behalf of the Vancouver District Students Council, composed of student representatives from all 18 secondary schools working to gather diverse perspectives on VSB initiatives as a district stakeholder group representing students. Before we begin our presentation, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to the VSB on behalf of VSC and the 50,000 students for the board's continuing support of students and for this opportunity to advocate for our priorities in the 2026 to 2027 budget. Next slide, please. To gather diverse student perspectives on the budget, BDAC created a short survey distributed district-wide, open from January to February. These engagement efforts led to nearly 300 survey responses. Beyond the survey, BDAC also conducted three engagement sessions in December, February, and March with students from all 18 secondary schools. Next slide, please. First, throughout our engagement, we heard that access to STEM resources across the district is inconsistent. Many advanced courses and extracurricular opportunities require specialized equipment that may not be available at every school. Students at smaller schools reported fewer course options and limited access to hands-on materials, as well as concerns about the condition of lab equipment and safety supplies. When STEM resources are inactively distributed, it limits the quality of learning, and most critically, risks discouraging female, BIPOC, and students with diverse abilities from seeing science as a path in their future. As a group, we recommend that the board consider funding to ensure consistent access to safe, up-to-date STEM resources that support student curiosity and achievement. Next slide, please. We also heard strong interest in responsible AI in education. In our survey, over 50% of students said their schools can improve instruction on the safe and ethical use of AI. As AI becomes more common in schools in everyday life, students expressed a need for consistent guidance and resources across schools. This could include in-person lessons or online learning opportunities, as long as access is equitable. VDSC believes that dedicated funding can help support these AI learning opportunities and ensure that they are delivered equitably across the district. Next slide, please. In recent years, washroom facilities have consistently been an area of focus for VDSC. In our student budget survey, over 60% of the feedback we received on facilities issues was bathroom-related, and a majority of students described the condition of their school's facilities as poor or fair. We are very grateful that $485,000 has been allocated towards improving washroom facilities in the draft financial plan. VDSC looks forward to collaborating on the delivery of this funding across schools. Next slide, please. Another priority voiced by students was a lack of food accommodations for cultural and dietary preferences district-wide. Beyond its health benefits, VDSC's engagement has shown that students value food for the sense of belonging and comfort. Having lunch with friends has helped build social connections and foster an inclusive and positive school environment. Next slide, please. As shown here, 65% of students share that the food at their school is not affordable, compared to 35% who found a very affordable, or affordable. In the surveys, students also reported limited options at their schools that met their nutritional goals. Over 60% of the respondents said that the food offered is not nutritious. Students with allergies who are vegan or have religious requirements for food have also expressed a need to see dietary accommodating food options. BDSC hopes that the board can fund the expansion of food programs to make them more inclusive, affordable and nutritious. Next slide, please. Lastly students across the district continue to identify mental health and well-being as an important part of their school experiences. Students share the support such as school counselors teachers and support workers meaningfully help in addressing challenges and supporting well-being. Next slide please. As shown in this graph some students share that access to these supports can be limited. Students reported that counselors often support many students at once making it challenging for some to access timely support when needed. Next slide please. Based on this feedback, BDSC would like to ask the board to consider exploring opportunities to improve mental health support and awareness of community resources. Workshops and learning sessions related to mental health, including a possible train-the-trainer model for student leadership, may also be positive additions. Lastly, the board may also wish to consider adding trauma-informed practices, including considering student perspectives and emergency preparedness and threat assessment training. Thank you for this opportunity to highlight student voice priorities, which we hope can be considered in the upcoming financial plan.

Thank you very much. I would like to say every time that you come to present to the board, you're very professional and are doing a great job as voices of the students. So I want to just say thank you very much. Before we move forward, I want to acknowledge Trustee Chan-Pedley. Thank you for joining us tonight. Moving to my colleagues. Are there any questions? Oh, actually, before we go ahead, do we have access to your presentation? I don't see it provided to us beforehand, and I'm wondering if that has been... We do have it. Okay, we have it. We'll get to it. Thank you. Would you mind sharing that with us? Thank you. Trustees, any questions? Trustee Reddy.

Thanks, Chair, and thanks to the students. I think it's Freddie, Jolene and Selina for presenting. I just had two kind of follow up questions. I know you covered quite a bit in the five minutes, but one of the items that you mentioned was about STEM materials. Could you detail a bit more of what do you mean, for example, like for a student on a daily basis in a classroom? Could you draw out a little bit of what you mean specifically in terms of materials? Is it more like textbooks or like kind of more tools or a little bit of both or something else like the infrastructure? And I have a follow up as well.

Thank you for the question. In our budget survey we heard that materials like lab equipment so that could include glassware. Um, safety supplies like goggles or microscopes used in some courses can sometimes be limited, um, as well as, um, you know, things like textbooks and, um, resources like that, that can help students to prepare for extracurricular opportunities.

You have a follow up trustee ready.

I do. Yeah. Thanks for the detail there. Um, my second follow-up was just about what you mentioned about food nutrition so if you could say more was there any other information in your survey about what students assessments were about those kind of nutritional needs or requirements that that they desired to have those met if you could detail anything there

Yeah, of course. So based on the survey, a lot of students kind of expressed how most of the foods offered weren't really aligned with like guidelines created by like the federal and provincial governments and stuff. Like a lot of them don't really meet their nutritional value, especially in terms of those who kind of experience like dietary needs and stuff. a lot of vegetarians or vegans found that they didn't really have many options for them or those with like different like allergies or diseases had no options whatsoever. So those are like the main general responses that we've received from this, but yeah.

Thank you. Are there any other questions from trustees? Okay. Seeing none. Thank you very much again from the Vancouver district student council and moving to item 3.2 on the agenda. We're gonna ask Suzette and Russell from the CUPE Local 15.

Thanks, go ahead. Trustees, educators, workers, and members of the community. My name is Suzette Magri and I am an office supportee in district learning services. And I represent CUPE Local 15 on the bargaining committee, the finance committee, and several other VSB committees. I've worked at the VSB for almost 25 years, and I deeply care about student success. I'm here tonight to share CUPE Local 15's perspective on the 2026-27 draft financial plan. At its core, the purpose of the public school system is simple, to educate students, support their growth, and prepare them for their future. That work doesn't happen in isolation. It depends on dedicated CUPE members who support students year round and help deliver high quality, accessible and inclusive education across the district. Tonight, I want to talk about why frontline learning and student success must remain at the heart of the VSB's work and why cutting specialized roles that directly support students takes us in the wrong direction. When students feel supported, they do better. It's that simple. CUPE 15 members show up every day with care and compassion, helping to ensure students feel seen, supported, and set up to succeed. Our first concern with the draft budget is the proposed cuts to the SSB positions. While we recognize and welcome the increase in the SSA staffing, the loss of SSB positions is deeply concerning. These roles provide specialized support for students who need it the most. Programs like Excel, Core, and Social Development serve some of the most vulnerable students in our district. These are not students who can afford to lose support. They need more care and attention, not less. Our second concern is the loss of Swiss workers. These workers play a unique and essential role in supporting students and families from multicultural backgrounds. They help to bridge language and cultural gaps, connect families to schools, and support students as they integrate into their communities. Swiss workers often are translators, community liaisons, and one of the first points of contact for new Canadians who choose Vancouver as their home. Our third concern is the potential impact this budget could have on classroom safety for both students and staff. Moving away from specialized programs towards more generalized student model risks putting additional strain on classrooms. We could see students from behavior programs placed into settings that no longer have specialized support they previously relied on. While there is an increase in SSA, FTE, those workers are entering an already strained school environment. As outlined in the draft financial plan, level two students' needs are increasing. Many SSAs have shared that they don't always have the training or expertise to support students with complex needs. Right now, those needs are being met by SSAs across the district, pardon me, SSBs across the district. With this budget, those positions are at risk. CUPE Local 15 is also concerned about the transition from an internal printing service to an internal model. The VSB is the only school district that owns its own print services. Moving to an internal model may offer short-term savings, but it limits long-term opportunities to generate revenue. district needs creative solutions and the print shop could be an asset not a liability in closing students who require additional supports whether due to learning differences language barriers or social challenges are often those hit hardest by staffing cuts especially when those cuts target specialized programs reducing these roles impacts the students who need the most help The VSB has a responsibility to hold up the quality and accessibility of public education. That means recognizing that frontline learning is strengthened by student support workers, OAs, ITs, and the many other roles QP15 members provide to this district. Properly resourcing these roles helps create safer schools, higher quality education, and better outcomes for students, families, and the entire community. I thank you for your time and your consideration.

Thank you. I'm looking to those at the table if you have any other questions or information to be clarified. Trustee Reddy.

Thanks Chair and thanks Suzette and Russell for the presentation. I'm pretty familiar with the difference in the roles for the SSBs and SSAs and just thinking a little bit more about what you just said about the level two needs. Can you describe a bit more about what exactly would the service loss look like for those students with high needs without those SSPs? Are there kind of no supports available or what would that actually look like on sort of a day-to-day basis for students?

I'm not sure that it's a loss of support per se as more a system that is already strained having less amount of people to be present to provide those supports.

Thank you. Trustee Reddy, do you have a follow-up?

No, thank you.

Statement Watch

Celina is not here yet.

Okay, well, if you wouldn't mind presenting, we would appreciate it.

So thank you very much for the opportunity to be here. Celina and I were here just to bear witness. We're not actually making a presentation at this time.

Thank you. And just to remind you, as you know, those listening, we have lots of avenues for you to share that when you are ready. So thank you.

I appreciate that. Thank you.

Statement Watch

Hi, Selena Bendorf. I'm on the DPAC executive.

Statement Watch

Thank you. We just have a brief statement to read at this time. We haven't provided it to you, but we'll email it to you after tomorrow. Not after tomorrow, just tomorrow. Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the development of the draft budget. BASA recognizes the complexity of managing a budget for a district of this size, particularly in the context of declining enrollment, economic pressures, and existing structural constraints. However, these challenges cannot obscure the very real and growing impacts of budget decisions on school-based administrators and, by extension, on the functioning of schools. At the outset of this process, VASA clearly identified priority investments, including an increase to the school-based administrator envelope, and the establishment of a robust strategically funded technology plan. As this process concludes, it is evident that reductions across several areas of the budget are being absorbed at the school level without any corresponding reduction in the scope, accountability or expectations placed on administrators. School-based administrators serve as instructional, operational, and compliance leaders across more than 100 school sites. This budget further increases the complexity of our roles, intensifies managerial demands, and places additional pressure on administrators to meet expanding inclusion and reporting requirements with fewer resources. These expectations are neither reduced nor optional, and the cumulative impact on workload and sustainability is significant. While VASA members will continue to fulfill their responsibilities with professionalism and a steadfast commitment to students, families, and staff, we are compelled to state that this level of expectation without adequate resourcing is not sustainable. We therefore expect that the Board to go beyond acknowledging these challenges and to actively pursue tangible, concrete opportunities to increase funding and support within the VSB. Such action is essential if school administrators are to continue meeting district priorities and serving our communities effectively. Thank you.

Thank you. Trustees around the table or online, are there any questions?

Trustee Reddy. Thanks, Chair, and thanks Angie and Benita for the presentation. What you mentioned about the admin envelope increase, is it consistent across all secondary schools or is there some differentiation you're seeing that's needed or is it just across the board?

Would you mind turning your mic on?

Thanks. I'm not sure what you mean by consistent across schools. Each high school is allocated a different admin allocation dependent on its complexity, the size and population of the student population, and the functioning of the building. So it's different from place to place. But what is significant is the impact of teaching time on our VSB, or sorry, on the VASA vice principals, which more and more we're seeing them spending more time in classrooms and teaching, and it impacts our actual ability to be educational leaders in learning, manage the complexities of our student population, support staff with inclusion practices, and keep them moving forward in terms of their practices in the classroom around assessment and pedagogy. So we asked to have an increase in admin time and lessen the teaching time in order to meet the needs of our communities. And while the secondary envelope has not been changed as in terms of previous years, we did ask for a decrease in teaching time to meet the ongoing needs of our buildings.

Thank you. Do you have a follow up, trustee? Go ahead.

Thanks, Chair. Yeah. Thanks for that elaboration. That is what I was getting at as well was sort of what the differentiation is between different schools. So that detail is helpful. And similarly with the I.T. plan, are there similar issues across all secondary schools or are you seeing more acute needs or more specific kind of explanation around what IT plans you might be referring to.

Again, it's probably varies from site to site as to the needs and as we are. And as we are expected to perform more and more things. on technology when you consider that we have ministry assessments, student learning surveys, and schools are responsible on their own to replace labs and computers for both curricular and other activities. It's a burden on the schools. And while I appreciate that we are moving forward with a plan to provide staff members with new computers, and that's definitely a needed thing. We were hoping that there would be more emphasis on a broader plan around supporting schools to maintain their labs and move forward in the current climate of technology, even within the context of personal digital devices. We cannot depend on students to be able to bring their own computers as they need them through their education in varying ways. So that was just a general request.

Great, thank you. I'm doing something a little bit unscripted tonight because one of our trustees who can't make it and was not granted access is texting me a question that they'd like to ask you. So I'm gonna go ahead and ask you if you could suggest avenues beyond just our VSB advocacy subcommittee to enable the ministry to truly understand your concerns regarding the inability to provide the educational leadership that you wish.

Mike, could you run that by me one more time, please?

I think what he's asking is outside of just our advocacy subcommittee and the work that we do, that all of you have seats at the table on, have seats at the table, if there are any additional avenues at which you think we could assist or that we could help with at a ministry level. At a ministry level. Yes, to truly understand your concerns regarding the inability that we have here in our district.

Inability particular to what? Technology particular to the admin envelope?

What I have is very limited and I'm trying to bridge a gap here just to try and make sure everyone's questions are heard because everyone's busy schedule. So I'm limited to what was sent to me.

he's just looking for some additional input from you around advocacy okay i'm not sure what the advocacy committee is working on or doing so i can't really talk to that um i think there's lots of advocacy going on towards the ministry around budgets and providing educational funding so i'm not really sure what that would look like we have other avenues of advocating for ourselves through through our provincial association, and we do do that. So that's one avenue for us. So I think, I'm not really sure I'm answering the question, but that's...

Statement Watch

Thank you. We just have a brief statement to read at this time. We haven't provided it to you, but we'll email it to you after tomorrow. Not after tomorrow, just tomorrow. Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the development of the draft budget. BASA recognizes the complexity of managing a budget for a district of this size, particularly in the context of declining enrollment, economic pressures, and existing structural constraints. However, these challenges cannot obscure the very real and growing impacts of budget decisions on school-based administrators and, by extension, on the functioning of schools. At the outset of this process, VASA clearly identified priority investments, including an increase to the school-based administrator envelope, and the establishment of a robust strategically funded technology plan. As this process concludes, it is evident that reductions across several areas of the budget are being absorbed at the school level without any corresponding reduction in the scope, accountability or expectations placed on administrators. School-based administrators serve as instructional, operational, and compliance leaders across more than 100 school sites. This budget further increases the complexity of our roles, intensifies managerial demands, and places additional pressure on administrators to meet expanding inclusion and reporting requirements with fewer resources. These expectations are neither reduced nor optional, and the cumulative impact on workload and sustainability is significant. While VASA members will continue to fulfill their responsibilities with professionalism and a steadfast commitment to students, families, and staff, we are compelled to state that this level of expectation without adequate resourcing is not sustainable. We therefore expect that the Board to go beyond acknowledging these challenges and to actively pursue tangible, concrete opportunities to increase funding and support within the VSB. Such action is essential if school administrators are to continue meeting district priorities and serving our communities effectively. Thank you.

Thank you. Trustees around the table or online, are there any questions?

Trustee Reddy. Thanks, Chair, and thanks Angie and Benita for the presentation. What you mentioned about the admin envelope increase, is it consistent across all secondary schools or is there some differentiation you're seeing that's needed or is it just across the board?

Would you mind turning your mic on?

Thanks. I'm not sure what you mean by consistent across schools. Each high school is allocated a different admin allocation dependent on its complexity, the size and population of the student population, and the functioning of the building. So it's different from place to place. But what is significant is the impact of teaching time on our VSB, or sorry, on the VASA vice principals, which more and more we're seeing them spending more time in classrooms and teaching, and it impacts our actual ability to be educational leaders in learning, manage the complexities of our student population, support staff with inclusion practices, and keep them moving forward in terms of their practices in the classroom around assessment and pedagogy. So we asked to have an increase in admin time and lessen the teaching time in order to meet the needs of our communities. And while the secondary envelope has not been changed as in terms of previous years, we did ask for a decrease in teaching time to meet the ongoing needs of our buildings.

Thank you. Do you have a follow up, trustee? Go ahead.

Thanks, Chair. Yeah. Thanks for that elaboration. That is what I was getting at as well was sort of what the differentiation is between different schools. So that detail is helpful. And similarly with the I.T. plan, are there similar issues across all secondary schools or are you seeing more acute needs or more specific kind of explanation around what IT plans you might be referring to.

Again, it's probably varies from site to site as to the needs and as we are. And as we are expected to perform more and more things. on technology when you consider that we have ministry assessments, student learning surveys, and schools are responsible on their own to replace labs and computers for both curricular and other activities. It's a burden on the schools. And while I appreciate that we are moving forward with a plan to provide staff members with new computers, and that's definitely a needed thing. We were hoping that there would be more emphasis on a broader plan around supporting schools to maintain their labs and move forward in the current climate of technology, even within the context of personal digital devices. We cannot depend on students to be able to bring their own computers as they need them through their education in varying ways. So that was just a general request.

Great, thank you. I'm doing something a little bit unscripted tonight because one of our trustees who can't make it and was not granted access is texting me a question that they'd like to ask you. So I'm gonna go ahead and ask you if you could suggest avenues beyond just our VSB advocacy subcommittee to enable the ministry to truly understand your concerns regarding the inability to provide the educational leadership that you wish.

Mike, could you run that by me one more time, please?

I think what he's asking is outside of just our advocacy subcommittee and the work that we do, that all of you have seats at the table on, have seats at the table, if there are any additional avenues at which you think we could assist or that we could help with at a ministry level. At a ministry level. Yes, to truly understand your concerns regarding the inability that we have here in our district.

Inability particular to what? Technology particular to the admin envelope?

What I have is very limited and I'm trying to bridge a gap here just to try and make sure everyone's questions are heard because everyone's busy schedule. So I'm limited to what was sent to me.

he's just looking for some additional input from you around advocacy okay i'm not sure what the advocacy committee is working on or doing so i can't really talk to that um i think there's lots of advocacy going on towards the ministry around budgets and providing educational funding so i'm not really sure what that would look like we have other avenues of advocating for ourselves through through our provincial association, and we do do that. So that's one avenue for us. So I think, I'm not really sure I'm answering the question, but that's...

Statement Watch

Good evening. My name is Freddie Zhang. My name is Jalene Mallett. My name is Selena Sharma. I'm with the Vancouver District Students Council. Good evening. My name is Angie Haviman. I'm the president of the VASA Association for Secondary Administrators in the District. And with me is Benita Kwon. I'm the representative for VASA for the Finance and Personnel Committee. My name is Suzette Magary. I'm with QP 15. my name is russell green i'm also with qb vocal 15 i'm a national representative thank you for having me stephen leon representing vepfa dina kotak buckley representing vepfa rob mcgowan representing the adult educators jody polakashko my pronouns are she her and i'm representing face vancouver elementary and adult educators

Statement Watch

Thanks, everyone, for your time today. You'll likely find from our report that our priorities haven't changed very much over the years, that our concerns are always connected to our working conditions and to our students' learning conditions. There are three main areas we're bringing to you today to ask for your support in moving forward with the budget process that are all connected to student support. Teachers are identifying that efforts to implement meaningful inclusion in their classes are becoming increasingly challenging. How it shows up for teachers is being overwhelmed by the administrative and the in-the-moment attention and time needed to respond to classes with increasing diversity and complexity at the same time that the support for these students is decreasing. As you know, we have concerns about the closure of programs for students with disabilities and neurodiverse students was implemented and that the transition for those students to their new classes was done in a way that was insufficient to the scale of that endeavor. We're proud public educators. We take all comers. We want our students to be successful and we want to be using the most appropriate and responsive pedagogy for those students. We are endlessly creative when it comes to finding ways for students to participate in diverse ways. while still addressing our professional responsibility to all the students in our classrooms. There's a limit to how much we can do in full classes with less support than ever for diverse learners. This includes learning as well as health and safety and violence prevention. We continue to advocate for any necessary reductions in staffing to be done as far as possible from the classroom. This is our evergreen request as we know that there are external pressures on the board and that the funding provided by the provincial government for inclusion is insufficient for full integration. and the levels of support that our students deserve and need. Too many students with disabilities are going without the level of support that they need in order to thrive at school, to successfully make social connections, and to build the skill set they need to be happy, safe, and independent lives. We cannot stress enough the importance of improving staffing ratios for non-enrolling teachers, including SLPs, school psychologists, and resource teachers working directly with students in schools. Even within the structure of insufficient funding, we know that there are choices that the district makes around how you structure and apply staffing in this complex system. We're asking you to prioritize student need at the frontline and what will likely be difficult decisions about where you prioritize staffing and who those staff serve. Prioritizing face-to-face support for students is the single most important choice you can make as you move forward. This can also look like reducing the amount of administrative work required by teachers to maximize face-to-face student support, decreasing the number of times teachers are required to learn new software or other reporting tools, and the provision of meaningful in-service when it is. We also request, as we always do, that the district change its harmful policy about not replacing resource teachers until day three of an absence. It is our most vulnerable students who pay the price for this cost efficiency, and it has a knock-on effect on programming and consistency for those same students who need it the most. Resource teachers, although not in an enrolling position, are essential and a significant part of the provision of support for neurodiverse students and students with disabilities. Many programs don't bounce back when our SSA colleagues are not replaced when absent. Considering this from the perspective of individual students with an IEP or from the perspective of staff at the school level where most days there's a scramble that occurs to sort out coverage of our neediest students when SSAs and resource teachers are not replaced. The saying that we are constantly being asked to do more with less becomes more true every year and part of that is due to support for complex needs and part of it is due to the increasing demands and expectations on teachers. FACE also encourages trustees to continue to support anti-oppression and decolonizing work at the district level. Racism, anti-indigenous racism, transphobia, queerphobia, and other forms of discrimination have not just vanished from our communities and are constantly changing form in our school. FACE continues to be in support of the VSB's work in this area and encourages the district to consider ways of expanding the work. We implore the district to continue to support decolonization and indigenization within the district in meaningful ways. and ensure that there is support for student and district work on those practices and the real support for Indigenous students and non-Indigenous students alike. Additionally, we are concerned about the support for adult education, which is a program that has been funded for both non-graduated students and graduated adults, but never seems accurately represented in budget planning. Where once there were six schools, there's now just South Hill and Gathering Place, and yet they had a 2024-25 FTE count of 781 FTE. That's a greater student population than some secondary schools. Vancouver's adult education program supports the province's poverty reduction plan and is core to the mandate of K to 12 education. Adult education is a vital conduit for many Vancouver residents to upgrade their qualifications and pursue that better life society promises. We ask that the Vancouver district's adult education program be not just maintained, but grown, especially now that college systems have drastically reduced both ABE and link programming lessons. What Vancouver offers to adult learners is more important than ever and should not be subjected to a death by a thousand cuts simply because it is outside K-12. Thank you.

Was that the end of your presentation? Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you, Jody and Rob. Are there any questions from trustees? Trustee Reddy?

Thanks chair and thanks Jody and Rob for your presentation. I know that was a lot of information in in a short time, so I've just got a few follow up items. One was about the reporting time that you mentioned in the first part of your presentation. I know there's the ministerial reporting requirements. Are there new reporting tools or procedures that you're having to undertake or noticing that members have to undertake? Um, kind of in the last year or so that you could give examples of, um, or is it administrative, uh, sort of more generally that, that you're speaking of?

Uh, through the chair. Uh, thanks for the question. Um, it, it is sort of the whole gamut. Um, but more recently it's connected to reporting. What we've seen is the ministerial order, which re which increased the number of reports. Um, and in some cases increased the number of, uh, subject areas and the kind of reporting that needed to be done. but the district has also made decisions to move towards a new software called Spaces, which for many teachers who have just learned the CSL, even though they're not super fans of the CSL, at least it's something that's familiar, and adding in a new software that we're told will be mandatory and in our view doesn't necessarily match the sort of approach of many elementary schools is in addition to workload that's not compensated for in other ways.

Thank you. Trustee Reddy, do you have a follow up?

I do. Yeah. Thanks, Chair. And thanks, Jody, for the detail there. Yeah, it's good to kind of understand what the specifics are about that reporting. And similarly, you had mentioned about the in-service when needed. And I know we hear a lot about the professional development opportunities that are offered and know that that has limitations because it doesn't reach all staff in sort of an equitable or equal way. So could you say a little bit more about what kind of in-service you're noticing the need for as of late? I know we heard like AI mentioned earlier by the student presentation, but are there other topics that are coming up that you're noticing are in need of across the board?

Yeah, thanks again for the question through the chair. The in-service, like I just need to clarify that first of all, we identify in-service as being something very different from professional development. And in-service is a result of, in our view, a result of when the district requires us to undertake new learning as a sort of mandate. And so what we're seeing a lot of is the kind of train the trainer module where teachers are going to attend a session and then are expected to teach their colleagues or it's something that we're expected to do sort of off the side of our desks or at a lunchtime training from our administrator. or sometimes there's a little bit of release time provided for specific folks. What we'd like to see is that if there is something that the district is undertaking, that it be something where release time is provided for training for all teachers, so that it's not another addition to our workload, but rather something that we have an opportunity to learn together, to hear from the district firsthand what it is that the expectations are, and also to be able to ask questions and clarify. You know, for instance, there's the new apparently mandatory reading assessment that's coming out in elementary, and I think teachers sort of across the board feel ill-prepared to deal with that and would like more and better training, as well as a more sort of consultative and respectful rollout.

Thanks. Trustee Reddy? Yeah, go ahead.

I do. I have just one more and this is about the second part of the presentation. Thanks for describing the difference between in service and sort of what's being sought after in the budget process for that. One last thing you had mentioned about adult and Rob in your piece was about the like kind of historical reduction of the sites and the FTE that we continue to serve. and also what you mentioned about other post-secondary institutions offering ABE. Can you just articulate a little bit about how the fee structure is working right now and what's different about that? Because my understanding was that the post-secondary model of ABE is cost recovery. So students do have to pay significantly more from what I understand to what we actually offer. So is that still the case? And do you think... that's driving some of the increase that we could be serving more effectively.

Thank you. For the question, I think I'll answer the question in two parts, and I'm just making sure everybody can hear me right, because I speak loud normally, so I want to make sure we can hear you. Thank you. I'm not as familiar as I should be with how ABE charges for their programs. However, I can say that in fact they do charge basic student fees for everything. So even if you're taking a program which under ABE would be considered fee-free under the provincial's funding formula, you would still be charged student fees and such. So those can range upwards of $250 to $500 depending on what you're looking at to go to adult ed at a college. Now, conversely, most of the colleges in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland have actually reduced or even eliminated their ABE programs simply because they are no longer able to provide them given the increased mandate that they have for degree and certificate programs that they've acquired over the last few years for example capilano university on the north shore they maintain a modicum of adult basic education when in fact they've gone on to become a degree granting institution which has become their primary focus so that would be one area of that and the other would be the well-publicized cuts by the federal government to the link program so a large number of those students have come again to adult education because we provide those courses, not linked courses necessarily. We provide English foundations, which is part of the ministry curriculum. And so we provide those at a fee structure that, again, the provincial government funds adult education 36% lower than K-12 funding. So that's what we provide in adult education. We do more with less every day. And so that's how we operate our program. And even though we've been reduced from six sites to two, we still provide a full program. We run four full blocks a day plus Saturdays. We have two self-paced programs which are running gangbusters. We need another site or we need more space wherever the board could find it for us. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your question.

Statement Watch

Thanks, everyone, for your time today. You'll likely find from our report that our priorities haven't changed very much over the years, that our concerns are always connected to our working conditions and to our students' learning conditions. There are three main areas we're bringing to you today to ask for your support in moving forward with the budget process that are all connected to student support. Teachers are identifying that efforts to implement meaningful inclusion in their classes are becoming increasingly challenging. How it shows up for teachers is being overwhelmed by the administrative and the in-the-moment attention and time needed to respond to classes with increasing diversity and complexity at the same time that the support for these students is decreasing. As you know, we have concerns about the closure of programs for students with disabilities and neurodiverse students was implemented and that the transition for those students to their new classes was done in a way that was insufficient to the scale of that endeavor. We're proud public educators. We take all comers. We want our students to be successful and we want to be using the most appropriate and responsive pedagogy for those students. We are endlessly creative when it comes to finding ways for students to participate in diverse ways. while still addressing our professional responsibility to all the students in our classrooms. There's a limit to how much we can do in full classes with less support than ever for diverse learners. This includes learning as well as health and safety and violence prevention. We continue to advocate for any necessary reductions in staffing to be done as far as possible from the classroom. This is our evergreen request as we know that there are external pressures on the board and that the funding provided by the provincial government for inclusion is insufficient for full integration. and the levels of support that our students deserve and need. Too many students with disabilities are going without the level of support that they need in order to thrive at school, to successfully make social connections, and to build the skill set they need to be happy, safe, and independent lives. We cannot stress enough the importance of improving staffing ratios for non-enrolling teachers, including SLPs, school psychologists, and resource teachers working directly with students in schools. Even within the structure of insufficient funding, we know that there are choices that the district makes around how you structure and apply staffing in this complex system. We're asking you to prioritize student need at the frontline and what will likely be difficult decisions about where you prioritize staffing and who those staff serve. Prioritizing face-to-face support for students is the single most important choice you can make as you move forward. This can also look like reducing the amount of administrative work required by teachers to maximize face-to-face student support, decreasing the number of times teachers are required to learn new software or other reporting tools, and the provision of meaningful in-service when it is. We also request, as we always do, that the district change its harmful policy about not replacing resource teachers until day three of an absence. It is our most vulnerable students who pay the price for this cost efficiency, and it has a knock-on effect on programming and consistency for those same students who need it the most. Resource teachers, although not in an enrolling position, are essential and a significant part of the provision of support for neurodiverse students and students with disabilities. Many programs don't bounce back when our SSA colleagues are not replaced when absent. Considering this from the perspective of individual students with an IEP or from the perspective of staff at the school level where most days there's a scramble that occurs to sort out coverage of our neediest students when SSAs and resource teachers are not replaced. The saying that we are constantly being asked to do more with less becomes more true every year and part of that is due to support for complex needs and part of it is due to the increasing demands and expectations on teachers. FACE also encourages trustees to continue to support anti-oppression and decolonizing work at the district level. Racism, anti-indigenous racism, transphobia, queerphobia, and other forms of discrimination have not just vanished from our communities and are constantly changing form in our school. FACE continues to be in support of the VSB's work in this area and encourages the district to consider ways of expanding the work. We implore the district to continue to support decolonization and indigenization within the district in meaningful ways. and ensure that there is support for student and district work on those practices and the real support for Indigenous students and non-Indigenous students alike. Additionally, we are concerned about the support for adult education, which is a program that has been funded for both non-graduated students and graduated adults, but never seems accurately represented in budget planning. Where once there were six schools, there's now just South Hill and Gathering Place, and yet they had a 2024-25 FTE count of 781 FTE. That's a greater student population than some secondary schools. Vancouver's adult education program supports the province's poverty reduction plan and is core to the mandate of K to 12 education. Adult education is a vital conduit for many Vancouver residents to upgrade their qualifications and pursue that better life society promises. We ask that the Vancouver district's adult education program be not just maintained, but grown, especially now that college systems have drastically reduced both ABE and link programming lessons. What Vancouver offers to adult learners is more important than ever and should not be subjected to a death by a thousand cuts simply because it is outside K-12. Thank you.

Was that the end of your presentation? Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you, Jody and Rob. Are there any questions from trustees? Trustee Reddy?

Thanks chair and thanks Jody and Rob for your presentation. I know that was a lot of information in in a short time, so I've just got a few follow up items. One was about the reporting time that you mentioned in the first part of your presentation. I know there's the ministerial reporting requirements. Are there new reporting tools or procedures that you're having to undertake or noticing that members have to undertake? Um, kind of in the last year or so that you could give examples of, um, or is it administrative, uh, sort of more generally that, that you're speaking of?

Uh, through the chair. Uh, thanks for the question. Um, it, it is sort of the whole gamut. Um, but more recently it's connected to reporting. What we've seen is the ministerial order, which re which increased the number of reports. Um, and in some cases increased the number of, uh, subject areas and the kind of reporting that needed to be done. but the district has also made decisions to move towards a new software called Spaces, which for many teachers who have just learned the CSL, even though they're not super fans of the CSL, at least it's something that's familiar, and adding in a new software that we're told will be mandatory and in our view doesn't necessarily match the sort of approach of many elementary schools is in addition to workload that's not compensated for in other ways.

Thank you. Trustee Reddy, do you have a follow up?

I do. Yeah. Thanks, Chair. And thanks, Jody, for the detail there. Yeah, it's good to kind of understand what the specifics are about that reporting. And similarly, you had mentioned about the in-service when needed. And I know we hear a lot about the professional development opportunities that are offered and know that that has limitations because it doesn't reach all staff in sort of an equitable or equal way. So could you say a little bit more about what kind of in-service you're noticing the need for as of late? I know we heard like AI mentioned earlier by the student presentation, but are there other topics that are coming up that you're noticing are in need of across the board?

Yeah, thanks again for the question through the chair. The in-service, like I just need to clarify that first of all, we identify in-service as being something very different from professional development. And in-service is a result of, in our view, a result of when the district requires us to undertake new learning as a sort of mandate. And so what we're seeing a lot of is the kind of train the trainer module where teachers are going to attend a session and then are expected to teach their colleagues or it's something that we're expected to do sort of off the side of our desks or at a lunchtime training from our administrator. or sometimes there's a little bit of release time provided for specific folks. What we'd like to see is that if there is something that the district is undertaking, that it be something where release time is provided for training for all teachers, so that it's not another addition to our workload, but rather something that we have an opportunity to learn together, to hear from the district firsthand what it is that the expectations are, and also to be able to ask questions and clarify. You know, for instance, there's the new apparently mandatory reading assessment that's coming out in elementary, and I think teachers sort of across the board feel ill-prepared to deal with that and would like more and better training, as well as a more sort of consultative and respectful rollout.

Thanks. Trustee Reddy? Yeah, go ahead.

I do. I have just one more and this is about the second part of the presentation. Thanks for describing the difference between in service and sort of what's being sought after in the budget process for that. One last thing you had mentioned about adult and Rob in your piece was about the like kind of historical reduction of the sites and the FTE that we continue to serve. and also what you mentioned about other post-secondary institutions offering ABE. Can you just articulate a little bit about how the fee structure is working right now and what's different about that? Because my understanding was that the post-secondary model of ABE is cost recovery. So students do have to pay significantly more from what I understand to what we actually offer. So is that still the case? And do you think... that's driving some of the increase that we could be serving more effectively.

Thank you. For the question, I think I'll answer the question in two parts, and I'm just making sure everybody can hear me right, because I speak loud normally, so I want to make sure we can hear you. Thank you. I'm not as familiar as I should be with how ABE charges for their programs. However, I can say that in fact they do charge basic student fees for everything. So even if you're taking a program which under ABE would be considered fee-free under the provincial's funding formula, you would still be charged student fees and such. So those can range upwards of $250 to $500 depending on what you're looking at to go to adult ed at a college. Now, conversely, most of the colleges in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland have actually reduced or even eliminated their ABE programs simply because they are no longer able to provide them given the increased mandate that they have for degree and certificate programs that they've acquired over the last few years for example capilano university on the north shore they maintain a modicum of adult basic education when in fact they've gone on to become a degree granting institution which has become their primary focus so that would be one area of that and the other would be the well-publicized cuts by the federal government to the link program so a large number of those students have come again to adult education because we provide those courses, not linked courses necessarily. We provide English foundations, which is part of the ministry curriculum. And so we provide those at a fee structure that, again, the provincial government funds adult education 36% lower than K-12 funding. So that's what we provide in adult education. We do more with less every day. And so that's how we operate our program. And even though we've been reduced from six sites to two, we still provide a full program. We run four full blocks a day plus Saturdays. We have two self-paced programs which are running gangbusters. We need another site or we need more space wherever the board could find it for us. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your question.

Statement Watch

Thank you. If we could start on slide three in light of the time limit here so Carl and I can get through both. Thank you. Secondary school budgets are based on enrollment, yet schools receive just $45.27 per student to cover essential learning materials. The result is fewer resources, aging equipment that isn't replaced, and increasing pressure on schools to ask families to fill the gap, directly affecting students' access to a quality education. Next slide, please. At the same time, enrollment has increased by 1,727 students in the last two years in Vancouver Secondary. Next slide, please. Across all 18 secondary schools, total general allocations and entitlements are just under 1.5 million, but this does not reflect the real cost of delivering equitable program-appropriate learning. The result is gaps in materials, in supports, and in opportunities, depending on where a student is and what they are taking. Next slide, please. Program supports, or flex funds, is tightly restricted and unevenly distributed. Level one funding is just $16.31 per student, and core academic courses like English, math, and ELL receive no funding at all. THESE ARE BROAD LEVEL FUNDING STRUCTURES AND THEY DIRECTLY DETERMINE THE QUALITY AND BREADTH OF STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCES. LOOKING AT THE FULL PICTURE, TOTAL PROGRAM SUPPORT FUNDING ACROSS ALL SECONDARY SCHOOLS IS JUST OVER 2.3 MILLION. THAT MUST COVER ALL CLASSROOM MATERIALS. it works out to 106 dollars per student per year 57 cents per day or 14 cents per class in a secondary school next slide please in 2023 funding levels were higher 19.30 cents per student at level one today as i said earlier was it's 16.31 cents so what we see is base funding is down 20 percent per student funding is down 16%. Meanwhile, costs have risen by over 35%. So in real terms, schools have lost significant purchasing power. Next slide, please. Trustees, this slide shows the correction. If funding had simply kept pace with 2013 levels and inflation, today's allocation would be nearly $4 million, an increase of $1.5 million. This is not an expansion. It is not an enhancement. It is the cost of restoring what has been lost. Thank you, John. Next slide, please. For the next set of slides, I'll be referring to the BC School District Revenue Expenditure Tables for the Vancouver School Board. Next slide, please. Please note that here are the reported provincial grants and total expenditures for the VSB from 2021 to 2025-26, as well as both the proposed spending, the annual budget, and the actual spending as reported in the audited financial statements. Also included is the variance between the proposed and actual funding, as well as the total dollars and percentage difference in the aggregate. The main takeaway is that revenue is increased annually and that while the provincial grant variance may at times be negative, the VSB has always maintained a positive variance. Next slide, please. Please find here other reported actual revenue. It's these revenues as is that keeps Vancouver in a positive balance. Next slide, please. Please find here the reported total expenditures and spending on instruction. Please note that the annual variance in spending on instruction is always less than the corresponding annual variance in total expenditures. Next slide, please. Please note the following trend. the percentage of spending on instruction is decreasing, while the variance proposed in actual spending is increasing. Next slide, please. Looking at salaries, you can see that the, well, maybe not actually given the size, that while the actual spending on total salaries has increased by 22.6% over five years, actual spending on teacher salaries has not kept pace, even considering significant and fully funded salary increases. As well, the significant the significant aggregate variance in total salaries is not reflected in the aggregate variance in teacher salaries. Next slide, please. Please note that these same trends that from spending on instruction are even more obvious when considering teacher salaries. Actual spending on teacher salaries as a percentage is just decreasing year over year and is always less than proposed spending. Next slide, please. Finally, Please note that international ed students have generated an aggregate of $121 million over five years. And yet the total spending on teacher salaries was only 37 million and total expenditures for this area was $64 million, just half of the revenue generated. Next slide, please. This graphic is used frequently. The implementation section, which includes actioning the plan, is how the VSB fulfills its core purpose and is fundamentally the work of Unimized staff. An annual budget statement is a public statement of values while the audited financial statement is a declaration of the degree to which the VSB has chosen to live those values. We implore you to reverse the trends of diverting spending away from classrooms and from schools. Final slide. Next slide. Yeah. So in summary please increase secondary school budgets by one and a half million dollars and reverse proposed cuts to teacher staffing as both can easily be financed from either current investment income or from leftover tuition after accounting for international ed expenditures. Thank you.

Statement Watch

Thank you. If we could start on slide three in light of the time limit here so Carl and I can get through both. Thank you. Secondary school budgets are based on enrollment, yet schools receive just $45.27 per student to cover essential learning materials. The result is fewer resources, aging equipment that isn't replaced, and increasing pressure on schools to ask families to fill the gap, directly affecting students' access to a quality education. Next slide, please. At the same time, enrollment has increased by 1,727 students in the last two years in Vancouver Secondary. Next slide, please. Across all 18 secondary schools, total general allocations and entitlements are just under 1.5 million, but this does not reflect the real cost of delivering equitable program-appropriate learning. The result is gaps in materials, in supports, and in opportunities, depending on where a student is and what they are taking. Next slide, please. Program supports, or flex funds, is tightly restricted and unevenly distributed. Level one funding is just $16.31 per student, and core academic courses like English, math, and ELL receive no funding at all. THESE ARE BROAD LEVEL FUNDING STRUCTURES AND THEY DIRECTLY DETERMINE THE QUALITY AND BREADTH OF STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCES. LOOKING AT THE FULL PICTURE, TOTAL PROGRAM SUPPORT FUNDING ACROSS ALL SECONDARY SCHOOLS IS JUST OVER 2.3 MILLION. THAT MUST COVER ALL CLASSROOM MATERIALS. it works out to 106 dollars per student per year 57 cents per day or 14 cents per class in a secondary school next slide please in 2023 funding levels were higher 19.30 cents per student at level one today as i said earlier was it's 16.31 cents so what we see is base funding is down 20 percent per student funding is down 16%. Meanwhile, costs have risen by over 35%. So in real terms, schools have lost significant purchasing power. Next slide, please. Trustees, this slide shows the correction. If funding had simply kept pace with 2013 levels and inflation, today's allocation would be nearly $4 million, an increase of $1.5 million. This is not an expansion. It is not an enhancement. It is the cost of restoring what has been lost. Thank you, John. Next slide, please. For the next set of slides, I'll be referring to the BC School District Revenue Expenditure Tables for the Vancouver School Board. Next slide, please. Please note that here are the reported provincial grants and total expenditures for the VSB from 2021 to 2025-26, as well as both the proposed spending, the annual budget, and the actual spending as reported in the audited financial statements. Also included is the variance between the proposed and actual funding, as well as the total dollars and percentage difference in the aggregate. The main takeaway is that revenue is increased annually and that while the provincial grant variance may at times be negative, the VSB has always maintained a positive variance. Next slide, please. Please find here other reported actual revenue. It's these revenues as is that keeps Vancouver in a positive balance. Next slide, please. Please find here the reported total expenditures and spending on instruction. Please note that the annual variance in spending on instruction is always less than the corresponding annual variance in total expenditures. Next slide, please. Please note the following trend. the percentage of spending on instruction is decreasing, while the variance proposed in actual spending is increasing. Next slide, please. Looking at salaries, you can see that the, well, maybe not actually given the size, that while the actual spending on total salaries has increased by 22.6% over five years, actual spending on teacher salaries has not kept pace, even considering significant and fully funded salary increases. As well, the significant the significant aggregate variance in total salaries is not reflected in the aggregate variance in teacher salaries. Next slide, please. Please note that these same trends that from spending on instruction are even more obvious when considering teacher salaries. Actual spending on teacher salaries as a percentage is just decreasing year over year and is always less than proposed spending. Next slide, please. Finally, Please note that international ed students have generated an aggregate of $121 million over five years. And yet the total spending on teacher salaries was only 37 million and total expenditures for this area was $64 million, just half of the revenue generated. Next slide, please. This graphic is used frequently. The implementation section, which includes actioning the plan, is how the VSB fulfills its core purpose and is fundamentally the work of Unimized staff. An annual budget statement is a public statement of values while the audited financial statement is a declaration of the degree to which the VSB has chosen to live those values. We implore you to reverse the trends of diverting spending away from classrooms and from schools. Final slide. Next slide. Yeah. So in summary please increase secondary school budgets by one and a half million dollars and reverse proposed cuts to teacher staffing as both can easily be financed from either current investment income or from leftover tuition after accounting for international ed expenditures. Thank you.