Background:
​ BC Area Standards were established by the BC Ministry of Education in 2003, just prior to commitment to the seismic mitigation program.  The Area Standards policy defines eligible space allowances for all new and replacement elementary, middle and secondary schools in BC.
BC Area standards fall far below area standards in other provinces for space allowance per pupil space.  Even though BC is a world-leader in 21st century curriculum design, the BC Area Standards does not allow sufficient space to build schools that support the teaching and learning goals of the redesigned curriculum.Under the current standards, replacement schools are on average 30% smaller than existing schools for the same size population.Area Standards effectively eliminates non-enrolling spaces for art and music in elementary schools.  It also severely restricts space for circulation in schools, that has effect on social wellbeing and sense of belonging for students within a school. Furthermore, BC Area Standards does not reflect increased space requirements arising from the restored contract language on class size and composition.
BC is spending billions of taxpayer dollars over the next decade to replace and upgrade seismically unsafe schools and aging infrastructure as well as meeting demand in areas of rapid population growth.  It is imperative that the Area Standards policy is updated to ensure that new schools are not only safe but effective and support the teaching and learning goals of the redesigned BC curriculum.  Other provinces are leading the way in updating area standards to align with 21st century school design principles.
 
We believe BC can too.

We are calling on the provincial government to conduct an area standards review.

On Thursday, October 11, PAN's Maggie Milne Martens and Galen Hutcheson presented to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services on BC Budget 2019. 
PAN requests for next year's budget are: 

1. Increase per-pupil operational funding to ensure the increased costs of service delivery are not downloaded onto districts, resulting in further cuts to educational services for children.
2. Increase supplemental funding to include all special needs, complex learners and vulnerable students to enable districts to create meaningful and comprehensive solutions for improving student success including diagnostic services, training, staffing, resources and class size adjustments, to address the full range of learning needs within any given classroom.
3. Allocate additional ongoing funding for curriculum implementation to support teacher professional development and the acquisition of educational resources. In addition, it is recommended that government develop and commit to funding a minimum standard for access to expensive resources such as technology in order to redress inequities that have accumulated within the system from reliance on fundraising.
4. Provide additional, targeted and protected funding to school districts to support equitable access to quality K-12 arts education through professional development, specialist programming, community engagement and material resources.
5. Increase and accelerate capital funding so parents can send their children to neighborhood schools that are well maintained and meet current seismic safety standards. We would like the provincial government and Ministry of Education to honor their commitment to replace high seismic risk schools by 2025/2030.
6. Conduct an Area Standards review to ensure space allocations for new schools align with 21st century teaching and learning principles and the objectives of the redesigned curriculum for optimizing student success.
   Institute an immediate increase of at least 10% to current BC Area Standards, as a minimum first step to allow schools in project definition and design phases to create more design space within schools to build more inclusive environments for the well-being of all students and to allow for vital non-enrolling spaces in elementary schools for specialized, hands-on learning in science and the arts.
   Ensure that all capital funding through the Ministry of Education is directed to serve the educational needs of K-12 public school students. Community use (NLC) space within schools, while offering vital services for families within the community, should be funded through the Ministry of Children and Families.
7. Create an Educational Facilities Incentive Fund to allow schools undergoing upgrades or repairs to make structural adaptions to out-dated learning environments to create spaces that support inclusive learning and innovative teaching practices and further the implementation of the redesigned curriculum.

Read our full brief (download pdf).