The board of School District No. 46 (SD46) voted Tuesday night (Oct. 12) to raise annual board honorariums to $13,313 from $11,000 for trustees, $14,813 from $12,500 for vice-chair and $16,908 from $14,000 for the chair.
The increase, which raises the board's honorariums to meet provincial averages, will take effect Dec. 1. The last board increase occurred in 2007.
During discussions, vice-chair Dave Mewhort, who made the motion, said that it's awkward when trustees vote on their own honorariums; however, the increase is necessary for talent attraction.
"I think it's important to attract the best people we can for the job," he said. "It's an important job."
Trustee Greg Russell spoke against the motion, citing six school districts of similar enrollments plus several larger ones with similar or lower honorariums.
"We're in a restrained scenario," he said. "Last spring when we were in budget deliberations, trustee [Jason] Scott actually questioned about our governance cost and was there anything we could do to show that we were sharing some of the pain that our employee partners were feeling. So I find right now, in the context of what's happening in our school district financially, to have an increase - not that I don't feel that the trustees should be paid more - but I think this is poor timing."
Russell said he would be more supportive of an increase that would take effect for the next board, rather than the current one.
Scott spoke for the motion, calling the provincial average a "reasonable amount" but noting that he has a "fundamental issue" with politicians voting for their own pay increases.
The motion carried with Mewhort, Scott and trustee Ken Sinnott in favour and trustees Russell and Fran Heppell opposed. Trustee Lori Fielding was absent. As the chair's position serves a tiebreaker role, chair Silas White did not vote on the issue.
Jellyfish
Dan Kingsbury made a presentation to the board about the Jellyfish Project. The project looks to raise awareness about the ocean's fragility by encouraging consumers to purchase only sustainable seafood, promoting the use of biodegradable plastics and highlighting the problem of the Pacific Gyre - a British Columbia-sized, current-free zone in the Pacific which is clogged with plastics.
Kingsbury presented his interest in creating curriculum for Grade 4 and 11 students about the topic, and to involve students in stenciling jellyfish shapes by local storm drains to pique interest about the project.
The board reacted positively to his request for non-financial support for the project, which Kingsbury says he hopes will "go viral."
Class sizes
Superintendent Deborah Palmer presented a report on class size and composition, confirming that the organization of classes in the district complies with the School Act. The report notes that class size averages are 17.8 students for kindergarten, 20.4 for grades 1 to 3, 23.5 for grades 4 to 7 and 23.9 for grades 8 to 12. It notes that there are six classes with more than 30 students - all of them band courses, plus a media arts course at Pender Harbour Secondary School.
NLC grants
SD46 has received two $15,000 School Com-mu-nity Connections grants to use to develop Neigh-bourhood Learning Cen-tres at Gibsons Elementary School and Sechelt Elem-entary School.
Neighbourhood Learn-ing Centres combine school and community facilities and programs under one roof. According to a Minis-try of Education news release, the Gibsons grant will be used to consult with the community to determine how best to use school space with the new Gibsons Elementary. The Sechelt Elementary School grant money will be used to explore the possibility of establishing an arts centre at the new school site.
- Jenny Wagler
