Bittersweet.

At the end of every school year, we reflect on and acknowledge the tremendous work that has been accomplished by staff and students alike. As we reach the last day of school (in the youth sector, that is) there is always a collective sigh of relief as the summer holiday … almost begins. Congratulations is extended to everyone across the LBPSB who has reached this point of celebration. On behalf of the Council of Commissioners, I would like to thank all of the school principals and centre directors who included us in your convocations and end-of-year events. Making connections with you and observing the culmination of the tremendous effort and commitment to your work is extremely meaningful to all of us.

At the end of every school year the LBPSB also looks ahead to its budget for the upcoming year with a goal for the Council to pass the budget as soon as possible, ideally at the end of June, but practically by the end of September. It has become the practice of the MEQ to be significantly delayed in presenting our Director of Finance, the LBPSB, with the budget parameters to be included in the budget building of our operational and capital budgets, vital and necessary components of presenting a balanced budget for the year ahead. You have all heard by now that the budget parameters which arrived on June 12^th to be addressed by us by June 13^th contained massive cuts in spending in Education by the CAQ government – the number keeps shifting from $50,000,000 to $75,000,000 to almost a billion dollars of cuts across the system. Cuts, the government refers to as “compressions”, a slow down in spending, a contribution to the CAQ’s massive deficit. Certainly none of this assault on education in Quebec is for the common good as the government implies.

We have been asked by the media and some of our public where the cuts will affect us the most. My answer is EVERYWHERE. As soon as a cut is applied in one area, the affect is felt in the next, and the next in a cascading waterfall effect. Where do the cuts land, in the end? In the classroom. On the backs of the students. Along the way, as everyone, everywhere is affected, anxiety, well-being, workplace stress, an overwhelming feeling of futility can settle in. Everyone will feel this. The Minister of Education tells us to optimize, to be more efficient, to make sure that how and where we cut doesn’t affect our students. Impossible. Ridiculous. To say we are outraged and furious is an understatement.

 The LBPSB has reacted strongly to these last minute, let’s impose at the end of June so no one will really notice, cuts. Guess what? They’ve been loudly noticed. Our finance and administrative team – Dr. Cindy Finn, Stéphanie Stever, Veronique Marin and our Director of Finance Services, Danielle Laplante and her incredible (small but fierce) team, along with our Commissioners, parents, the public, have been speaking up and out. Also, the English school boards luckily do still have a voice, because we have a certain level of management and control of our boards compared to the Centre-de-services, whose DGs report directly to the minister. We are doing what we can to fight these cuts, both as an individual board and as an association through the QESBA. We can only hope that the CAQ, the Minister of Education and the Minister of Finance foresee the damage that will be done, not just in the year ahead but in the fallout in the years ahead if they don’t go back to their budget drawing board for education. A reminder that should not be needed for the powers that be – the students you are essentially ignoring and overlooking in these obscure calculations have already suffered enough. They have all been through serious interruptions and gaps in their learning having been on the front lines, along with their teachers and support staff, during the COVID pandemic. They have already lost so much, and we were doing so well picking up those pieces which are now scrambled in disarray on the desks of the innocents.

On that note, I will shift to a less frustrated tone, to share that our Commissioners will continue to work on behalf of the LBPSB to ensure it is the best we can be.

To all, do take some time in the short summer months to relax and recharge your energy. We already anticipate the workload awaiting us when we return in August.

In kindness and gratitude,

Thank you.