Pay increases are reviewed annually, but it’s not about the money: SD57 Trustee

Some extra cash will be going into the pockets of the School District 57 Board of Education.

Trustees were given the opportunity to review their expenses and voted “yes” to an increase to their annual incomes beginning July 1st, 2017.

Sharel Warrington is the trustee responsible for the board’s marketing and finance committee.

She says this is well-deserved for all seven members.

“We didn’t feel that we were asking for a large amount of money to assist in our work. We pay for all our own travel expenses within the district and those small little bits of money aren’t going to make too much of a difference.”

Each position’s paycheque will see $270 dollars added to their total:

– Chairperson = $18,270
– Vice-Chairperson = $16,770
– Trustees = $15,270

Warrington says even a small increase such as this is important to consider for future board candidates.

“You don’t do it for the money, but you definitely want to provide people with enough so that it makes the work partly worthwhile in terms of expense recovery.”

.@tiben12 Tim Bennett says it’s not about money, it’s about the work #SD57 board does for the 13,000+ students in #CityOfPG @mypgnow

— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) March 1, 2017

While Warrington understands there could be strong public opinion on the 1.5% hike, she hopes they’ll also understand how dedicated her team is to their students.

“That’s what makes it a difficult decision. There are many needs in our district, but we would hope they’d agree with it; that our work is worth that very small extra dollar that we do as trustees.”

She adds this will have little to no effect on SD57 schools or students.

The Board of Education reviews incomes and monthly expenses for all members on an annual basis, with the previous revision taking place on June 23rd, 2015.