The Burnaby school board is sounding the alarm over "millions of dollars" missing from B.C.'s public education system to educate kids whose parents are refugee claimants or living in Canada on temporary work or study permits.
Under the province's current funding model, districts don't get funding for students who register after Sept. 30.
That policy has become a problem as B.C. schools deal with a dramatic influx of students whose parents are temporary residents, according to school board vice-chair Kristin Schnider, who raised the issue in a report at a meeting Tuesday.
In Burnaby, she said, enrolment of temporary resident registrants (TRRs) ballooned 500 per cent between the 2015-16 and 2022-23 school years.
And, as of January, enrolment this year is even higher, she said.
Schnider noted that temporary resident registrants, whose parents are legally living in Canada, are entitled to attend B.C. public schools – but many land in Canada after Sept. 30.
"Immigration most certainly does not follow the school calendar year, and herein lies the issue," Schnider said.
The Burnaby school district has seen an influx of post Sept. 30 registrations in recent years "largely driven" by temporary resident registrations, secretary-treasurer Ishver Khunguray told the NOW.
Since funding is not provided retroactively or otherwise for those students, he said the district has had to absorb the cost of their education.
And Burnaby is not alone, according to Schnider, who said she has heard trustees from other districts report the same challenges.
"This equates to literally millions of dollars missing from B.C.'s education system," Schnider said in her report. "Compounding this issue is the fact that TRRs often require additional supports through schools such as counselling services, support from settlement workers in schools, English language learning programming and education assistants based on their varied backgrounds."
In an effort to get the province to address the problem, Burnaby trustees introduced a motion at the annual general meeting of the B.C. School Trustees Association last weekend.
The motion, which passed "overwhelmingly," according Schnider, called on the province to introduce mid-year funding for temporary resident registrants.
Schnider said the board is also talking to local MLAs and MPs to raise awareness about the issue.
"We've made them intimately aware of the millions of operational dollars that TRRs are legally entitled to but do not receive if they register on Oct. 1 or any other day of the school year after Sept. 30," she said.
To the Burnaby school board, the current lack of funding is an "equity issue" that needs to be addressed, according to Schnider.
"This board believes strongly that the funding model for K-to-12 public education must be responsive to and reflective of the classrooms in our community, meeting the needs of all learners," she said.
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