AMHERST – Brian Skabar learned a few things Friday.
“It’s the first time I’ve been in a class with elementary students and, my gosh, they’re busy,” said the Cumberland North MLA as the 30 student in Cheryl Davis’s Grade 3 class worked in groups of six at five different tables.
The students got into the Spring Street Academy spirit by greeting Skabar with the Springer bark.
“They all greeted me with a bark,” said Skabar. “That was fun.”
As part of Take Your MLA to School Day, Skabar and MLAs from throughout Nova Scotia were invited by the school board to attend classes and get a first hand look at what teachers experience on a daily basis.
The invitation comes in the face of 1.7 per cent cuts to schools by the Nova Scotia Department of Education.
Skabar said the school boards have to decide the best way to make cuts and said they’ll be done with a scalpel and not a machete.
“The amount of reduction in the budget is smaller than the reduction in enrollment this year, so there is still more money being spent per student in Nova Scotia than ever before,” said Skabar. “You cannot decouple your target population from the total amount of budget spent.”
Davis said having Skabar in the class was great for the kids...
dmathieson@amherstdaily.com
yes i went there i go here dont emaul me