The New Democrats say the Campbell government’s latest broken funding promise to school boards will cost B.C. children.

“Once again, the Campbell Liberals have plowed ahead with unannounced cuts to school board funding in the middle of the school year, without any consultation with school trustees,” said David Cubberley, NDP Education critic.

“Minister of Education Shirley Bond hasn’t listened to school boards, who have been demanding stable funding for our schools. And clearly, she doesn’t care about the impact her funding cuts will have on B.C. kids.”

Despite promises to provide full funding, the Campbell government has not made payments to school boards to cover the cost of mandated changes to their accounting systems. The funding change was discovered by Secretary-Treasurers at the school district level, when they did not receive the money as part of their quarterly grant as promised.

“School boards were furious when the Minister changed school funding formula this past October, cutting millions of dollars from school board budget in the middle of the school year,” said Cubberley. “Now she’s done it again – withholding money she promised school boards would be there to help them balance the books.

“It shows how arrogant the Campbell Liberals has become. They don’t feel they have to provide any sort of stability to school districts, or answer for what they’ve done. Trustees will be forced to make tough choices as they scramble to cover this latest budget shortfall,” said Cubberley.