According to a Vancouver school board trustee, some of his colleagues are playing a game of brinkmanship with the province.

Fraser Ballantyne was referring to the five Vision Vancouver and Green trustees in the board. They had voted against the proposed $447 million operating budget for school year 2016-2017.

Ballantyne was one of the four Non-Partisan Association trustees who endorsed the budget. It was the result of having to cut $24 million worth of services.

Unless the board passes the balanced budget of $447 million proposed by staff, which technically can still be done before June 30, it could be fired by the province.

“This brinkmanship kind of politics is based on their ideology,” Ballantyne told the Straight by phone in a previous interview. “It’s going to backfire if they don’t do something.”

Because of procedural rules, NPA trustees cannot make a motion to reconsider the April 28 vote that rejected the budget.

It has to be one of the five trustees who held the majority vote. But it doesn’t look like board chair Mike Lombardi nor any of his Vision colleagues are inclined to do that.

That puts the spotlight on the sole Green trustee, Janet Fraser, who wields the swing vote.

So if this were a game of brinkmanship, as Ballantyne described it, is Fraser going to blink?

“If I wasn’t willing to be fired, I wouldn’t make that vote,” Fraser declared in a phone interview with the Straight.

In voting against the budget, Fraser said that she knew the possible consequences.

“I’m fully willing, if the minister decides to dismiss the board. That’s fully within his power. It’s something I would accept,” she said.

According to Fraser, she hasn’t seen anything different since the board rebuffed the budget last April 28.

“So I don’t think I would be in a position to reconsider,” she said.

On May 3, Fraser and Lombardi met B.C. Education Minister Mike Bernier. They agreed to have their senior staff work out a solution to the budget problem.

According to Fraser, it doesn’t look like the provincial government is keen on handing out more money.

However, the Green trustee thinks there may be an alternative.

In June this year, the board is expected to submit to the province its long-range facilities plan. Based on a draft prepared earlier by staff, the plan may involve the closure of 13 schools over the next 15 years.

If a school was closed or repurposed, the board can save on average operating costs of $249,000 for an annex, $567,000 for an elementary main school, and $1,949,000 for a secondary school, according to the document.

The draft notes that if a school was closed or repurposed, these one-time costs could be avoided for deferred maintenance: $2-$4 million for an elementary school, and up to $17 million for a secondary school). For seismic mitigation: $8-$16 million for an elementary school, and $30-$60 million for a secondary school.

Fraser noted that while the board may save money from future school closures, it cannot access these still-to-realized funds for the next school year’s budget.

One idea that has been discussed among trustees, staff, and stakeholders is for the province to provide a loan or bridge funding in order for the Vancouver school board to avoid cutting services in the next school year. According to Fraser, it's an option worth exploring.

“It’s a possibility, but, you know that’s in the minister’s hands,” Fraser said, “and we haven’t heard anything yet.”