Pay hikes for top brass after Alberta school board cuts teachers
原始发布日期： 2016-01-07 发布者：李方字变大 字变小
 Palliser Regional Schools logo Minutes of a Palliser Regional Schools board meeting in June, 2014 show trustees decided to pay superintendent Kevin Gietz and some of his head office associates thousands of dollars more each year even though the board was forecasting it would run a $1.5 million deficit and facing pointed questions from parents about administration spending. The official record documenting the pay increases at the central office for Palliser — which operates 15 rural schools around Lethbridge and nine faith-based facilities in Calgary — was only published online recently after the Herald inquired about the missing minutes. “There was a technical issue we missed in making them visible, which normally occurs as soon as the motion to approve minutes is voted on,” Palliser chairwoman Colleen Deitz said in an e-mail. “Thank you for bringing this to our attention.” The June 12 motions — passed during a special meeting at a hotel in Lethbridge and contained in minutes only approved last April after the province confirmed a five-year extension of Gietz’ contract — gave the chief superintendent a one-per-cent bonus for the prior year and a one per cent increase for the coming 12 months. The board’s financial statements show Gietz earned $270,272 in salary and benefits last year, a nearly 25-per-cent increase from his compensation two years earlier. The trustees’ resolutions on June 12 also gave a trio of associate superintendents a retroactive pay increase to $170,000 for the previous year and a further hike to $175,000 for the coming 12 months, subject to Gietz’s blessing. They also signed off on a maximum one-per-cent pay hike for those in director positions at head office, again subject to the chief superintendent’s approval. Deitz did not answer questions on the incremental cost to the board of the pay increases to top officials. But the Herald’s analysis of the board’s financial statements shows that over the last two years the per-position cost of salaries and benefits for Palliser’s head office staff — excluding the chief superintendent, corporate treasurer and corporate secretary jobs — has increased nearly 30 per cent as the board’s motions took effect. Despite the pay hikes, Palliser’s numbers also show overall spending on board administration has declined slightly over the last two years and remained just inside Alberta Education’s limit of 3.6 per cent on a 2014-15 budget of just over $81 million. Spending restraint and higher-than-expected revenues also meant the board’s operating deficit last year was smaller than forecast at $341,000. Still, Kelly McLeod, a Picture Butte parent who led the charge two years ago in questioning Palliser’s central office spending, is upset by the recently revealed salary increases. While top brass at the board have seen their wallets grow fatter, McLeod says the board has hiked fees on parents and cut front line positions at schools. Indeed, the board’s financial statements show revenues from fees for busing, instructional supplies, technology usage, field trips and locker rentals increased 18 per cent last year. Palliser also cut 19 teaching positions or 4.5 per cent of its certificated staff in 2014-15 school even though enrolment numbers remained static. As a result, the board’s average class-size numbers have increased significantly at both the elementary and high school levels, while remaining within provincial guidelines. “It makes me angry the board was increasing executive pay while they were cutting in the classroom,” McLeod said. “This was taxpayer money and the public should have been told when it happened, not a year and a half later.” mmcclure@calgaryherald.com Twitter.com/mattmcclure2 Calgary Herald |