The trustees of the School District 57 board of education voted unanimously on Tuesday night to not give themselves a raise this July.
The district’s policy regarding trustee remuneration recommends that each July 1, the remuneration for the board should be increased at the same rate as the B.C. School Employers’ Association contract for the district’s union-exempt staff. District secretary treasure Darleen Patterson said that rate is currently unknown, because wage negotiations are underway.
“It has been the practice of the board not to look at remuneration during bargaining,” trustee Tim Bennett said. “(And) we do have an ad hoc committee in place that is going to look at remuneration after the election.”
Bennett, who chairs the district’s management and finance committee, recommended the board defeat the proposed increase.
Earlier this year, the board struck a committee to evaluate the district’s remuneration policy and make recommendations intended to be put into effect after the local government election on Oct. 15.
Under the current policy, the chair of the board is paid $23, 115 per year, the vice-chair $1,500 less than the chair and regular trustees $3,000 less than the chairperson.
Board chair Sharel Warrington and trustee Milton Mahoney both spoke against trustees giving themselves a raise.
“We set a precedent if we choose to vote a raise for ourselves,” Warrington said.
