School trustees to confer in Halifax
At least two members of the Central Okanagan school board will attend the Canadian School Boards Association annual conference — in a province that doesn’t have school trustees.
Board chairwoman Moyra Baxter and Lake Country trustee Deb Butler this week confirmed they will attend the convention July 4-8 in Halifax. Others are interested in attending, including West Kelowna trustee Julia Fraser, but have not yet confirmed.
“It will not be a cheap trip. It costs more to fly to Halifax than what it costs me to fly to England,” said Baxter, who did not know the exact cost of the trip.
“We have several ways we (trustees) claim expenses. We have one called ‘personal items’ and we can accumulate those funds over our term, accumulate that money every year, and not go to the Canadian School Board Association meeting say (for) four years and accumulate that and go to one.”
Baxter was asked by The Okanagan Weekend how children in the school district will benefit by her attendance at the conference.
“We feel that, as a trustee, we will benefit from going and talking to trustees from across the country. Whether you’re a plumber or a heart surgeon, you get together and talk about how you can do business better. That’s why people go to conferences.”
Baxter also was asked why a conference is taking place in a province where there no longer are school trustees. (Nova Scotia’s Liberal government dissolved school boards this year in favour of a provincial advisory council.)
“One of the main things we need to talk about when we get there is, ‘why would they do that? Why do we have school boards?’” Baxter said.
“You have to book hotels and convention centres two years in advance in order to get them.”
Cancelling or moving the convention was discussed, she said, but considerable deposits had been paid for hotels and convention space, and all of the speakers had been booked.
The Okanagan Skaha district, which covers the Penticton and Summerland areas, will not send a representative.
However, trustee Ginny Manning will attend as a representative of the Thompson Okanagan branch of the B.C. School Trustees Association. That expense, Manning said, would be covered by the association and not the local school district.
The Okanagan Similkameen school district in Oliver is not sending anyone to Halifax.