BARRHEAD/WESTLOCK - Pembina Hills School Division (PHSD) trustees will have a more robust discussion on adjusting their monthly stipend, saying they needed more information before they make a decision.
Trustee David Truckey brought up the topic during the Aug. 31 trustee meeting, in which officials approved changes to Annex 7 — which governs trustees' honorariums, stipends, as well as travel and meal expenses.
The changes trustees approved saw a slight increase in the kilometre mileage rate paid to trustees from 50 cents a kilometre to set it to the Alberta Government standard (currently 55 cents a kilometre) and increased meal allowances by $5 ($15 for breakfast, $20 for lunch and $25 for dinner). It is worth mentioning that Annex 7 also includes the stipends and honorarium rates for trustees, but they remain unchanged.
"How long has the stipend been at that rate?" he asked.
Executive assistant to the superintendent Charlotte Watson said the last increase was in 2016.
"Not even for COLA (cost of living adjustment)?" Truckey asked for clarification.
Board chair Judy Lefebvre replied there have been no increases to the stipend since 2016, including COLA.
PHSD trustees receive a $485 monthly stipend as well as an honorarium for attending meetings (for meetings under four hours, the rate is $108, and it doubles to $216 for meetings over four hours and less than eight). For meetings that go over eight hours, which usually includes travel, trustees can claim a half-day honorarium).
The board chair and the vice-chair also receive additional honorariums to their monthly stipend equivalent to six and three full-day meetings, respectively. The trustees are also reimbursed a percentage of their monthly cell phone bill.
The public information package lists PHSD in the top half of the school divisions spent per trustee at $25,332, from the data administration collected from more than 40 school divisions across the province using information from school divisions' 2020-2021 audited financial statements.
In the Town and Country readership area, Aspen View Public Schools ranked 37th at $14,418 per trustee. Nearby Northern Gateway Public Schools ranked 27th at $18,825 per trustee. The highest amount per school trustee was Rocky View Schools at $48,708.
Lefebvre suggested the list was a little simplistic, noting that there are several factors to consider when looking at the statistics, including the number of trustees on the board, how many students the school division serves and their geographic configuration.
Trustee Victoria Kane said another factor to consider was trustee workloads.
She added that after the division adopted a new electoral ward structure, reducing the number of trustees from seven to six, each trustee is now responsible for more territory, and they have to sit on more committees.
"The stipend hasn't changed since we've reduced the number of trustees," she said.
Lefebvre also noted the majority of wards were responsible for the same number of schools, such as her ward in Barrhead (West-Ward 3), and as such, she would not expect an increase of the stipend on that basis.
"If you take the same amount of money and divide it by six instead of seven, you would change the monthly stipend from $485 to $565," Truckey responded. "And given that it hasn't changed since 2016, even for the three per cent a year or the cost of living adjustment that our staffing complement receives. Now, if we were to increase it, by $80 a month, as a dollar figure, it is very little, but as a percentage, it's huge. If we had been increasing it three per cent a year, it would be a little more reflective of reality."
Trustee Sherry Allen said she liked Truckey's idea of linking future stipend increases with COLA increases other division staff receive.
"That way, this discussion doesn't have to take place regularly," she said.
Kane then moved to increase the stipend by three per cent.
However, there was confusion about whether Kane's motion meant a three per cent cumulative increase annually from 2016 or starting for the current year.
She said it did not matter.
However, Truckey noted it would make a substantial difference of a potential 21 per cent increase (for seven years) or a three per cent increase in trustees' monthly stipend.
Kane later withdrew her motion.
"All our staff, teachers, support staff are being given a piddly 1.2 and 1.75 per cent increase this year and the next," Lefebvre said. "What is it going to look like (to the public and our employees) when trustees increase ours by three per cent retroactively? Teachers haven't had a contract since 2018 or 2019, and support staff haven't even got a cost of living adjustment in the last few years. We have to be cognizant of how we are treating ourselves, compared to our staff that work in our schools."
Truckey said he would have agreed if trustees would have kept pace with other staff, noting the stipend hasn't changed since 2016.
"We are employees of Pembina Hills but we are treating ourselves less than we treat all our employee groups," he said.
Lefebvre said she was not sure that was accurate, stating she believed non-unionized staff had not received a COLA increase in several years.
Trustees then asked administration to come back with information on pay increases for non-unionized division staff since 2016, saying until they knew that, it was impossible to make an informed and fair decision.
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