How many taxpayer dollars is it reasonable and appropriate for school trustee’s to spend on personal expenses?

All elected trustees in the province receive an annual stipend (in some cases the amounts are large enough to term it pay or salary).

One-third of this stipend is tax free.  While I was a school trustee (1996-2005), it was explained to us that the one-third is considered “unreceipted expenses”.  In practice this was interpreted to mean any “in district” expenses including automobile costs.

Once a year, in December, school districts are required to prepare and make public a report called SOFI (Statement of Financial Information)

Typically, trustee expenses include conference and training fees, hotel costs for out of district conferences, meals while out of district, mileage, internet, cell phones and publications.

There are no provincial guidelines for trustee expenses. Some reported expenses seem a stretch. For instance, trustee Michael Ewen records almost $900 in expenses to pay for substitute teachers to fill in at this regular teaching job [in Surrey school district] while he attended meetings in his capacity as an elected official in New Westminster.

These latest SOFI Reports cover the year that began July 1^st 2008 and ended June 30^th, 2009.  There was a municipal election in November 2008, therefore the reported stipend and salary of both outgoing and incoming trustees is only half the year.

The report for Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows trustees [see page 46] is somewhat shocking at first glance. Expenses are up 40 percent over the previous year.

The board was down one trustee (Nel Joostema moved to Nova Scotia) for six months in each of the two past years covered by SOFI reports and therefore her absence should not affect the comparison.  A second trustee, Rick Butler, quit before his term was up and therefore created a small decrease [saving] in overall trustee indemnity and expenses.

New trustees typically attend a greater number of conferences and other workshops compared to seasoned trustees and therefore their expenses in the first year are typically a little higher.

That said, three SD42 trustee expense accounts, in particular, stand out.

Past chair Kathie Ward racked up the highest expenses in 2007/8 at $4056.37 and surpassed that number in 2008/09 when she claimed $5260.52.

I contacted all trustees for details of their expenses and Trustee Ward was the first to respond.  She was candid and supplied a general breakdown and some explanation.

Ward’s expenses included costs associated with attending the local principals and vice principals retreat to Whistler in August 2007 and a summer conference in Penticton August 2008, a BCSTA December 2008 conference and the AGM in Kelowna plus BCPSEA meetings and workshops [normally the expenses of the board representative to BCPSEA are paid through board fees paid to the organization and do not appear as an individual trustee expense - the same for BCSTA - Ward was the alternate and attended for continuity to the new board because the rep was not seeking re-election to the boar], $420 was charged for internet and $175 for an increase to her ICBC from personal use to traveling to and from work. Restaurant meals between closed and public board of education meetings are also expensed.

Orientation materials for SD42 trustees list the limit for trustee expenses at $2,500 annually. Several trustees exceeded the limit.

New trustees Ken Clarkson and Eleanor Palis claimed expenses of $3781.93 and $4460.14 respectively for only half a year in office.

Both were forthcoming with some detail.  Trustee Vdovine has also offered to share details of his relatively high expenses.

It’s a difficult call.  On the one hand, it is important for trustees to expand their knowledge and understanding of public education. On the other hand, is it necessary to attend several conferences and retreats every year to learn and be an effective trustee? Perhaps one or two would be an appropriate limit given the level of concern trustees are expressing about funding.

Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows trustees recently voted to close two elementary schools to “save money”. Dire warnings about cuts to direct services to kids if the savings were not achieved were a theme at school closure meetings.

A forty percent increase in trustee expenses may be a tiny fraction of a hundred and thirty million dollar budget but it is not good leadership when trustees are also asking parents, students and school staff to make sacrifices.

For comparision, a scant handful of districts post their SOFI reports on-line.  It is interesting to note that SD59 Peace River South, for example, with a board of seven trustees spends less on trustee pay and expenses combined then SD42 does on trustee pay alone.

Note: Some expenses the public might reasonably expect to see included in “trustee expenses” are not.  All trustees on the Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadows Board are supplied with personal computers. The computers technically belong to the district and therefore do not show up as an expense, however trustees can buy them out at a greatly depreciated cost at the end of their term (I believe this is also true for employee laptops.  I will try to find out.). Membership dues for the BC School Trustee Association are not reported as a trustee expense. BCSTA membership is optional and SD42 trustees pay well over $40,000 a year to belong.  The membership fee helps subsidize the cost of conferences and covers all the costs related to having a board representative on the BCSTA provincial council.