BARRHEAD – After reviewing a survey that compared their compensation to other school divisions of similar size and composition, Pembina Hills trustees voted 6-1 on a motion at their Aug. 30 organizational meeting to approve a two per cent increase to their monthly stipend and honourarium rates effective Sept. 1, 2023.
With this motion – which trustee Melissa Hanna voted against – the basic monthly honourarium for each trustee (excluding the chair and vice chair) will go up from $493 to $503, while their per diems for attending half-day meetings will increase from $110 to $112 and their full-day per diems will increase from $220 to $224.
Trustees also passed a motion to have the policy committee investigate how such rate increases should be considered and report back by August 2024.
Previously, trustees had raised their monthly stipend and honourarium rates by 1.75 per cent at the start of the 2022-2023 school year.
Secretary-treasurer Heather Nanninga said the board actually reviewed the rates annex that contains the monthly stipend and honouraria rates back in January but did not impose any increases for the 2023-2024 school year.
However, she noted that historic practice has been to review and approve that rates annex just prior to the beginning of each school year.
She also presented the board with the results of a survey conducted in the spring by the Association of School Business Officers of Alberta, which looked at the compensation structures for trustees in various divisions.
Filtering out the survey results for divisions that were not comparable to Pembina Hills in terms of size and composition, Nanninga noted that this board’s travel rates, meal allowances and other similar types of compensation are in line with other school divisions.
She acknowledged that Pembina Hills has a higher per trustee average pay ($32,118) than other school divisions, but Nanninga attributed that higher amount to this board only having six trustees, while many others have at least seven or more.
For instance, Northern Gateway trustees earn an average of $23,624 yearly, but they also have nine trustees and can thus spread out their responsibilities more evenly.
While administration did not have a recommendation for the board, Nanninga pointed out that their Alberta Teacher Association (ATA) staff members are receiving a two per cent salary increase this year, as are non-union staff.
After doing some quick math, trustee David Truckey suggested that if they had a seven-member board, their per trustee average pay would decrease from $32,118 to roughly $27,500.
"The six versus seven makes a big difference,” he said.
Truckey eventually made the motion to amend the rates annex and increase their honourarium and stipend rates by two per cent.
He acknowledged the point that they are public servants and must be conscious of their expenditures but noted that elected officials at the provincial and federal levels are not shy about giving themselves annual raises and they’re not even required to balance their budgets.
Truckey also made the motion to have the policy committee investigate their compensation, which passed unanimously.
This motion came after trustee Sherry Allen noted that at some point during the year, there had been some discussion around establishing some kind of standard rate increase mechanism “that’s just automatic so that trustees, whoever they may be, are not having to make this decision about themselves.”
Truckey said the board seemed extremely cautious about reviewing its own compensation despite reviewing everything else in the division on an annual basis.
“This seems like the most basic thing ... and we’re scared to talk about it,” he said.
Supt. Michael Borgfjord recommended that the policy committee report back by next August, while Nanninga pointed out that a review of the trustee compensation rates annex was also part of their yearly board workplan.
