Voting for school board trustees is just as important as electing municipal councillors, says the Sooke school district superintendent.
鈥淭he key thing for us is that they have responsibility for governance and budgeting for around 11,000 students, which is a budget of over $100 million for the school district,鈥� Scott Stinson said.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a pretty significant responsibility for people that are often elected on not a huge proportion of the population.
鈥淭hey act in that governance role but they also act as kind of the key link politically for us between local municipalities and the provincial government.鈥�
As well, trustees advocate for the need for new schools and school sites 鈥� something that is especially important in the fast-growing Sooke district.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a huge piece for us,鈥� Stinson said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e up around 400 students again this year, which is around 4.5 per cent of our population. So if we鈥檙e growing at that rate annually, that鈥檚 a big part of the work that our trustees are engaged in.鈥�
Councillors and trustees do not function in exactly the same way, he said.
鈥淭he one difference is that school boards act as a corporate entity 鈥� individually they don鈥檛 have power, but collectively they do,鈥� Stinson said.
鈥淭hey do influence the values and direction that the school district heads in. They influence the work of senior executives in particular, and how that translates down through the system in terms of direct service to students.鈥�
A trustee鈥檚 role is broader than some people might think, he said.
鈥淓ven for people that don鈥檛 have children in the system, trustees are spending taxpayers鈥� money and making sure they get good value for the dollar.鈥�
Greater Victoria school district superintendent Shelley Green said the district鈥檚 trustees 鈥渁re dedicated to looking at the big picture for the entire school district, which is a big responsibility.鈥�
She said the current group of trustees has talked to a range of community groups and created a strategic plan that calls for a broad approach, even as they deal with individual items.
The idea is to engage the public in what the board does, Green said.
鈥淭his trustee group were dedicated to finding what does our entire Victoria school district community believe in in education. Where did they see us going and what did they want us to do?鈥�
Trustees take on all sorts of matters for the district and have a very important role, Green said.
鈥淒ress code was a perfect example,鈥� she said.鈥� Trustees were out and about at schools, heard complaints from parents and brought those issues as they came forward to the board table.鈥�
Budgeting is another key are for trustees, who are 鈥渟ifting through and making sure we spend the money appropriately,鈥� Green said.
The district budget is about $235 million.
Green said trustees deserve a lot of credit and don鈥檛 always get the recognition that their municipal counterparts do.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think people understand the work that trustees do 鈥� they just don鈥檛 get to be seen as much. Councillors are in the media a lot. Maybe trustees are just that quieter entity.鈥�
About the school districts
Greater Victoria
鈥� 20,000 students
鈥� 44 schools 鈥� 27 elementary, 10 middle and seven secondary
鈥� Budget 鈥� about $235 million
Saanich
鈥� 8,000 students
鈥� 14 schools 鈥� eight elementary, three middle and three secondary
鈥� Budget 鈥� about $92 million
Sooke
鈥� 10,600 students
鈥� 26 schools 鈥� 18 elementary, four middle, three secondary and one adult/alternative
鈥� Budget 鈥� about $123 million
Gulf Islands
鈥� 1,700 students
鈥� 10 schools 鈥� four elementary, one middle, one secondary, four combined
鈥� Budget 鈥� about $25.5 million
School boards are required to submit a balanced budget by June 30 each year.
