Following on the heels of a similar announcement from Thompson city council, the board of trustees for the School District of Mystery Lake (SDML) is floating the idea of reducing the number of its members from seven to five.
Trustee Ryan Land brought this recommendation to the board’s attention during their Jan. 30 meeting, saying that it could be used to cushion the budget reductions that they are anticipating going into 2018–19.
According to Land, there is very little guidance from the Manitoba Public Schools Act when it comes to this topic, outside of the stipulation that a school board “must have not fewer than five or more than nine trustees.”
However, Land also said that the Ontario government provides a full document on trustee determination and distribution, which suggests that they could calculate the right figure using enrolment numbers, electoral population size or the geographic space that the school district inhabits.
Pretty much all the other trustees who attended this Jan. 30 meeting were open to Land’s proposal, albeit with some reservations.
Trustee Sandra Fitzpatrick wondered what the specific budget impacts might look like. Meanwhile, trustee Guido Oliveira was worried about how a reduced number of members might affect the board’s ability to make decisions, especially when it comes to individual committees.
“If you take a look at this table we’re a very diverse crowd here,” he said. “In the absence of, say, two trustees, a lot of decisions could be made that negatively affect [everybody] because an opinion is not seen.”
Historically, the board has remained at seven members for a long time, with Thompson Teachers' Association president Cathy Pellizzaro, who attended the Jan. 30 meeting, claiming that the number hasn’t changed in at least the last 24 years.
In the end, the board motioned to table this recommendation until more information can be brought forward. Any changes would have to be made through a new bylaw, which has to be voted on three times and approved by the provincial minister of education and training.
In the interim, Land said he welcomes any feedback or input that the public might have on this topic.
The board also mentioned that the best place to air this feedback is during the SDML’s upcoming public budget meeting, which is taking place Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. at their headquarters on 408 Thompson Drive North.
