The total amount of remuneration — or pay — that Moose Jaw’s Catholic school trustees receive appears to be two to four times lower than what area public school trustees receive, a board report suggests.
Curt Van Parys, chief financial officer for Holy Trinity Catholic School Division, presented a report during the recent board of education meeting that detailed the pay and allowance trustees receive every year. The report compared Holy Trinity to the Chinook and Prairie South public school divisions since those divisions cover the same geographical area.
Van Parys acquired the information for his report by looking through the annual reports of the two public school divisions, provincial board indemnity, meals and mileage surveys, and policies and board minutes.
Chinook and Prairie South both have 10 board members, while Holy Trinity has six trustees, the report explained.
In 2017-18, the total amount of money each school division spent on trustees was $65,666, $135,722 and $35,106, respectively.
In 2018-19, the total amount spent on trustees was $93,627, $183,798 and $45,947, respectively.
In 2019-20, the total amount of money each school division spent on trustees was $85,380, $176,078 and $46,089, respectively.
Individually, trustees from Chinook, Prairie South and Holy Trinity received:
- 2017-18: $6,567, $13,572 and $5,851
- 2018-19: $9,363, $18,380 and $7,658
- 2019-20: $8,538, $17,608 and $7,682
The amount of money that each school division’s board chair, vice-chair and trustee received per meeting was:
- Chinook: $306, $251 and $251
- Holy Trinity: $350, $250 and $250
- Prairie South: $17,988 per year, $17,088 per year and $16,188 per year
While it appears that Holy Trinity trustees don’t receive much in compensation, what they receive for professional development (PD) is somewhat higher than their public school counterparts.
The total amount of professional development funding that trustees from Chinook, Prairie South and Holy Trinity spent during the past few years was:
- 2017-18: $13,955, $12,900 and $16,605
- 2018-19: $15,679, $10,437 and $14,626
- 2019-20: $9,034, $8,953 and $12,002
Individually, the amount of PD money trustees from Chinook, Prairie South and Holy Trinity received was:
- 2017-18: $1,395, $1,290 and $2,767
- 2018-19: $1,568, $1,044 and $2,438
- 2019-20: $903, $895 and $2,000
Meanwhile, money that Catholic trustees received for meal allowance ranks roughly the same as trustees with Chinook and Prairie South. The amount of money trustees received for breakfast, lunch and dinner was:
- Chinook: $10, $18, $23, for a total of $51
- Prairie South: $10, $15, $20, for a total of $45
- Holy Trinity: $12, $18, $25, for a total of $55
As of September 2020, the number of students in Chinook, Prairie South and Holy Trinity was 5,836, 6,881 and 2,236, respectively. That means the number of students per trustee was 583.6, 688.1 and 372.7, respectively.
The next Holy Trinity board meeting is Monday, Nov. 8.
