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mmrasmmfcm tpr ri mfafwf- z- r t- thursday oct 192000 v economist sun stouffviile tribune c- 4 j as the challenges for school board trustees grow the number of people willing homwthe commifment to serve zs by gianni colavecchia staff writer reid cawston has had enough- 7- after less than one term the pefferlaw res ident hasjdecided he wont be able to work as a trustee withthe public schdol board in york region t he commutes to torbntoriearly every day and with a new job will not be abletb1omrnit the 20pluskoursa weelc his trustee duties demand r trying to reach a collective agreement for teachers and helping to draft a 583million budget thar covers nearly 100000 students are two of the tasks cawston helped tackle this year v ox those and other duties associated with the job of trustee attending afterhours meetings taking phone calls from irate par ents cawston received 5000 the level of compensation for all that work he says prevents many people from becoming trustees staff photomike barrett markham trustee bill crothers who serves as chairperson of the public- school boardis one of the acclamations in this years campaign he says despite more provincial control there are still many responsibilities for trustees nobodys in it for the money for those people who are employed part time orretired money is in their considera tion he said you have to be of a certain mind to do it nobodyjs in it for the money cawston is one of several trustees who will not run for a school board seat nov 13 j dealing with commitments thatinakeit impossible to focus on school issues or dis couraged by lessdecisioritmaking power and- poor pay the number of people wanting to serve as a trusteefissharplydowhffomthe last municipal election in 1997 x only 14 people filed their nomination papers to become trustees with the catholic board down from 21 three years ago in the public board 22 people are vying for the posi tion of trustee down from 33 most of the regions seats haye gone uncontested with- incumbents being acclaimed because no one has bothered to run against them one of those acclamations is for bill crothers despite his stanceson several contentious issues and a highprofile position that leaves him open to all sorts of potential challengers crothersis the lone candidate for public board trustee in markhams area 3t the boards chairperson said the same motivation that prompted him to run for a trustee position 12 years ago is behind his run this year ive been involved in a number of com munity activities he said ive treated it as public service crothers admitted a chunk of trustees decisionmaking power isgohebut said a large amount of old responsibilities remain trustees must still draft budgets deter- mine where funds go and hire or fire employ- ees he noted t but- crothers also said the salary of a trustee makes it very very difficult for the average person to consider the position trustees in ontario earn 5000 and school board chairpersons are paid 10000 a year before ontario passedlegislation cutting trustee pay trustees with the york region catholic board could make more than 12500 and their chairperson could pull in nearly 19000 a year trustees with the regions public board used to earn nearly 20000 and ffieir chair could rake in more than 29000 a year onethird of- the compensation was tax- free manycommentators believe the province has also taken away most of the tools that gave trustees a sense they could affect major changes education reforms under bill 160 they say rendered trustees as little more than under paid officials who look laigely after house keeping issues the power to set the education portion of property taxes no longer belongs to trustees they also find themselves having much less control over instructional time and related issues when negotiating collective agree- ments with teachers the power to control the purse strings and sefout various conditions of employment are now the exclusive domain of provincial politi cians the changes have come during one of the most difficult times in tiie history of educa tion in ontario trustees find themselves stuck between a government determined to make several changes nomatter how controversial arid teachers unions berit on resisting forced extracurricular activities hiked instructional time and other reforms those trustees who are still around find themselves with larger geographical areas arid heavierworkloads rafter the province cut their ranks three years agoto 600 from 1900 catholic board chairpersbnelizabeth crowe said sties felt the stress of representing an extra area whitchurchstouffville help ing to deal with a nearcrippling deficit of 32 mmon and handling two teacher strikes despite the difficulties crowe said shes running for trusteein the auroraking area simply out of an interest for children tve treated it as a public service i see it as a vocation she said i never ran because i wanted to set tax rates declining to name a person who left a trustee position over education reform- crowe also said increased demands and lower- pay are likely hurting the number of applications her board gets fortrustee posi tions j t think we arelosing some other people who might see it as another form of employ ment she said referring to potential trustees who hold jobs 1 crowe said she stjllbelieves trustees hold many important responsibilities such as set ting budgets that sentiment was echoed by rob savage a ministry of education spokesper son the fact still remains that our school board trustees are responsible for ensuring kids are in school and receiving a good edu cation he noted no matter how tough the job of trustee gets some observers say there will always be a contingent of peoplewanting to respond to issues that affect children philip craig chairperson of a georgina public school council said hes running as a candidate to help improve what observers describe as very poor standardized test results for students in his area i have four kids in the school system and over the last year ive noted the educational quality and accountability office results in georgina and they have been decidedly low he said thats a concern jfapykar -it- cwi 1- a j tbnuo3 f nimzmr v s tfj octuol oroir ti v a