April 22, 2010 – 11:32 pm
In response (it would seem) to questions and concerns about the details of their personal expense accounts, District 42 school trustees have given first reading to two new policies.
The Trustee Professional Development and Attendance at Conferences policy and the Trustee - Provision of Resources policy are both posted to the school district website and public comment is invited until the end of April (2010).
As I have pointed out previously, some trustees are putting in for expense reimbursement at a rate of more than $5,000 annually during the 2008/2009 period - as reported within the required Statement of Financial Information (SOFI).
The [...]
March 27, 2010 – 11:24 am
This post is an addendum to yesterdays post B.C. Public Education - Who is minding the shop?
“Transparency” is a popular word used to describe the concept of open government. But what, exactly, does in mean in practical terms?
Here is my working definition. I welcome comments and suggestions.
Government/public institution transparency consists of four key components:
The depth and breadth of the information available to the public
The effectiveness of communication around what information is available
The ease and convenience of locating the information
The level of accessibility of the information to the average member of the public. For example, formatting and plain language packaging.
Trustees not authors of reform
School Watch by Katherine Wagner
The Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadows Times, March 26, 2010
A cabinet minister proposes a provincial government transparency task force. The premier holds an open vote in the legislature on the idea. MLAs reject the task force on the grounds “they already share enough information with the public.” Legislative reporters write about it. The public doesn’t react and MLAs take this as a sign they made the right decision.
Sound implausible? Substitute your elected school trustees, and the above scenario played out in Maple Ridge last month.
February 6, 2010 – 10:24 am
Trustees shouldn’t put up barriers to information
School Watch by Katherine Wagner
The Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Times, February 05, 2010
Pitt Meadows parent Karen Georgi is puzzled: “Didn’t all the new trustees run on an open and transparent platform, with the promise that they would be open to public questions?”
Georgi, who is also PAC chair at Davie Jones Elementary, regularly attends Board of Education meetings and began asking questions about the local Statement of Financial Information (SOFI) report soon after it was released in December.
“I basically asked what happened and how they could have spent so much in six months? I got [...]
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