Victoria/Fraser Valley – The recent announcement by the B.C. Government’s Ministry of Education of $198 Million in maintenance funding for school districts was positively received by the British Columbia School Trustees Association.
(Abbotsford will receive $2.325M in facility and bus funding, Chilliwack receives almost $1.5M and Fraser-Cascades receives $744 thousand)
“BCSTA has strongly advocated for quite some time that the government provide local boards of education and schools with the additional funds needed to appropriately address concerns surrounding building maintenance, school buses, facility upgrades, energy saving projects and other similar projects,” stated BCSTA President Gordon Swan in response to the announcement.
Originally introduced during the 1988/89 school year as the ‘Facilities Shareable Capital Allowance,’ the Annual Facilities Grant has evolved considerably and now covers a wide range of initiatives. The announcement from government has indicated additional funding is to be put to use in upgrading and replacing necessary equipment and facilities, marking the first increase to the AFG since 2004-2005. BCSTA supports the government’s proposal to increase these funds which will allow boards of education to allocate funds based on local needs and requirements. BCSTA looks forward to working together with the government to ensure that all of B.C.’s students are educated in safe and modern school buildings.
