School District 43 has no choice but to invest in technology if it wants to continue to push the boundaries of learning for students
For the last few years, the district has struggled with slow internet connections and without an $800,000 investment to connect to Coquitlam's QNet fibre optic system and purchase new monitoring tools, the district can only halfheartedly meet its obligations for introducing 21st century learning.
But this investment is not without its risks. There is as yet no money to pay for this project. Although the board of education has been assured the funds will come from increased revenue derived from long-term leases and better management of capital assets, the plan has not yet been finalized nor has it been approved by the province.
Still, the district has several months to find the cash and there is reason to believe there is money to be found in better stewardship of land and buildings. The internet upgrade itself is certainly worth doing because without it, students, staff and administrators will continue to face problems with dropped connections and reduced capacity.
The problem is that by going it alone, SD43 is encouraging the province to download yet another responsibility. And the project isn't cheap. If all schools are eventually hooked up to QNet, the final tally will be about $6.5 million, or about $800,000 annually for eight years. Although cheaper solutions and long-term financing will spread out the costs, the fact is this is a cost that more appropriately should be borne by the province.
It is no different from the homelessness issue, which the municipalities have been forced to take on because it has landed on their doorstep and has refused to disappear, although it has been much reduced thanks to the combined efforts of city staff, politicians, volunteers and the not-for-profit Hope for Freedom Society.
Granted, the province has a lot on the table and faces its own share of downloading from the federal government. The B.C. government has its own priorities and, at the moment, outlaying significant chunks of cash for internet upgrades is not one of them.
Still, by going it alone on this technology project, the board of education is letting the province off the hook. What's more, SD43 is making it easy for the province to avoid its responsibilities.
