School board, B.C. battle over mall sale proposal
Budget impasse grows between school board, provincial government
The fate of the Vancouver school board appears to be tied closely to the fate of Kingsgate Mall.
In a battle of words Thursday, Education Minister Mike Bernier said the VSB is playing political games by rejecting an offer to use money from the potential sale of the Kingsgate Mall site toward its operating expenses, while VSB chairman Mike Lombardi said the proposal was the “equivalent of taking out a second mortgage to buy your groceries.”
The fighting words were over the board’s rejection of a last-minute proposal by the ministry to use $5.59 million from the possible sale of the mall site to offset a portion of its $21.8-million shortfall for next year.
In April, the VSB began the process that could end with the sale of the land that Kingsgate Mall sits on, which is appraised at $79 million. The mall is leased to the Beedie Development Group under a 99-year lease, which brings in about $750,000 in income for the school board, an Ernst & Young adviser’s report said last year.
Bernier claimed that selling the land and using some of the proceeds to balance its budget was Lombardi’s idea, but Lombardi said it wasn’t.
“The Vancouver school board made a political show of rejecting its own idea — and claiming that the path to freeing up $100 million for student services was not sustainable,” Bernier said.
Bernier said the topic came up in a meeting between himself, Lombardi and board vice-chair Janet Fraser.
“The discussion was that they would like to look at selling (the land), but did not know how they could use those funds to offset operation costs. At that point, they asked me to look into it,” Bernier said.
But Lombardi said there was no discussion between himself and the education minister about selling the land to pay for operating expenses.
“I did say we would be open to creative solutions,” Lombardi said. “I said I would bring any proposal to the board. The board considered (this proposal) for more than two hours (Wednesday) night and rejected it by a clear majority.”
NDP education critic Rob Fleming called for a “timeout from all of the confrontation.”
“This looks like the B.C. Liberals picking another fight with the Vancouver school board to distract from their record of chronic underfunding,” Fleming said.
“The VSB may be willing to sell a property like (Kingsgate Mall) to pay a portion of seismic upgrades or other capital investments in its schools, but to plug an operating deficit and help the Liberals mask over their record of underfunding of our school system in the run up to the election, that’s just absurd.”
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson released a statement supporting the board, saying that in 2015, for the first time, Vancouver provided more in school taxes ($463 million) than it received in provincial funding ($448 million). City council passed a motion supporting the board’s request for the city’s “fair share” of provincial funding and encouraging the minister and trustees to try to find a solution.
“We took this action not just in the best interests of children and youth in Vancouver public schools, but in the best interests of our entire city’s future,” Robertson said. “Everything from our economy to our ability to create safe and inclusive communities rests on the investment we put into supporting public education.”
Lombardi said using one-time proceeds from the potential sale of school land would compound the VSB’s budget woes for next year, when the board is projecting another shortfall of $15 million. The VSB asked the education ministry not to release a letter to the board making the proposal, on advice of legal counsel, Lombardi said.
“We’re about to commence negotiations on the Kingsgate Mall because the lease comes up every 10 years. However, we would never compromise negotiations of property matters by disclosing information in public,” Lombardi said. “We’re fearful that letter may have compromised our ability to (conclude negotiations with good faith).”