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BCTF court win would cost region schools $16M, records show

School districts in the Capital Region would have to spend more than $16 million to uphold a court ruling that restores provisions stripped from teachers’ contracts in 2002, court documents show.
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Attorney General Suzanne Anton argues that it will cause “irreparable harm to the public interest of an unprecedented magnitude”

School districts in the Capital Region would have to spend more than $16 million to uphold a court ruling that restores provisions stripped from teachers’ contracts in 2002, court documents show.

The estimates are contained in material filed by the B.C. government today seeking to suspend the court ruling pending an appeal.

Attorney General Suzanne Anton argues that it will cause “irreparable harm to the public interest of an unprecedented magnitude” if the government has to obey the Jan. 27 decision of B.C. Supreme Court Justice Susan Griffin.

Griffin ordered the government to restore class size limits, maximums on the number of special-needs students per class and ratios for counsellors, librarians and other specialist teachers.

She found the Liberal government twice used unconstitutional legislation to infringe upon teachers' rights to negotiate working conditions.

She also said the government failed to negotiate with the teachers in good faith two years ago because it was preoccupied by its strategy to provoke a full-scale teachers strike.

“The government representatives thought this would give government the opportunity to gain political support for imposing legislation on the union,” Griffin said.

Her finding was based in part on cabinet documents and the testimony of the government’s chief negotiator.

Anton’s court application also seeks to block the B.C. Teachers’ Federation from distributing its submission in the case to teachers. The government says it would be unprecedented to allow the union to send out material “that quotes extensively from cabinet documents.”

BCTF president Jim Iker issued a statement accusing government of trying to stop needed improvements for the education system — including a limit of 24 students in shop classes where students are working with heavy machinery.

“Since 2002, more and more technology education teachers have become concerned about overcrowded and unsafe conditions in their workshops,” he said.

Iker also chastised government for trying to block the union from distributing its closing argument in the case.

“Given the premier and minister of education’s willingness to deny the facts as laid out in Justice Griffin’s ruling, we believe releasing all of the information to our members is more important now than ever,” he said.

The government argues that Griffi’s ruling will cause financial harm to the province’s 60 school districts and hurt students, families and teachers by disrupting classrooms.

The three Capital Region districts estimate that they would have to hire nearly 140 teachers and add dozens of classrooms or portables at cost of $16.6 million.

The government says the harm to districts could include:

• the closure of day care centres and Strong Start programs to create additional classrooms

• hiring unqualified teachers to meet staffing ratios

• building portables to create classroom space

• cancelling specialty programs for vulnerable youth

• layoffs of educational assistants

• transfer of students to other schools due to space constraints

Education Minister Peter Fassbender announced government’s intention to appeal last week, saying Griffin’s decisions put the interests of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation ahead of students' needs and would be “completely unaffordable” for taxpayers.

Greater Victoria pegged its costs at $8.3 million, according to court documents. The district said it would have to hire 44 regular teachers and 17 counsellors, librarians and other specialist teachers and spend $2.8 million on portables.

Saanich figured it would have to hire 23 additional teachers and spend nearly $1 million on portables for a total cost of $3.5 million.

Sooke said it would need an extra $4.8 million to hire 55 teachers and add 10 to 17 classrooms as “currently the district does not have the capacity for class sizes of 20 and 22,” court documents show.

lkines@timescolonist.com