School board election everyone’s responsibility

BY ELYSE AMEND

elyse.amend@transcontinental.ca

Everyone should make the upcoming province-wide school board elections

on Nov. 4 their business, regardless of whether they have children in school or not, said Bill Stockwell, who is currently acting as aid to the Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) returning officer during the

elections.

“It’s simple to say, well, I don’t have any kids in school, so I’m not going to vote in the school board elections. But once you do that you give the responsibility of how your hard-earned tax dollars are spent to somebody else,” he said. “Everybody always complains about school taxes, property taxes and income taxes, and this is a way of having some sort of control over that. And also, of course, putting the best interest of the children forward in terms of the education they receive.”

The LBPSB, for example, is administered by a 23-member council of commissioners, of which 21 are elected by the public. Commissioners are responsible for managing the board’s resources, which include over 3,000 full- and part-time employees, more than 28,000 students in 62 schools, and a $207 million budget. Along with the public meetings held at the end of the month, commissioners usually attend half a dozen study-committee conferences as well. Throughout their four-year term, they stay up to date on the different issues affecting their division and the schools they oversee. Commissioners usually get a base salary of $7,800, which is set by a provincial government formula based on school population.