VICTORIA — The British Columbia government has hired a special advisor to lead a forensic audit and full review of the Vancouver School Board.
Education Minister Mike Bernier says the government hired Peter Milburn, a recently retired deputy minister of finance, after trustees failed to pass a balanced budget last month.
School trustees rejected a plan proposed by the province to help the board address its $21.8-million budget shortfall and then it failed to submit a balanced budget by a June 30 deadline.
The Ministry of Education had proposed the sale of some school board property to help it reach its budget goals, but board chair Mike Lombardi said that the sale didn't offer adequate, stable or predictable funding.
School districts in the province are required by law to pass balance budgets and the Vancouver board is the only one that didn't meet that requirement this year.
The forensic review and audit are due back to the Ministry of Education by Sept. 30.
Bernier said that close to half a billion dollars is invested in the Vancouver School Board and that money needs to be going to services that directly support students.
"This refusal to follow the School Act and pass a balanced budget to stop cuts while at the same time claiming that staff are implementing cuts is confusing for parents and students," Bernier said in a statement.
"Worst of all, it's part of an ongoing pattern in Vancouver where claims of budget shortfalls have preceded the board adding to its accumulated surplus almost every year. This has to end."
The ministry said there are 6,500 fewer students in Vancouver than there were in 2001, a 10 per cent drop, yet funding has gone up by 20 per cent in that same period.
Lombardi has said he welcomes the audit and that the board will fully co-operate.
