Century wrought major change

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Published: March 6, 2015

School board trustees now find themselves less involved in daily operations and more focused on shaping the overall direction of education in Saskatchewan. | Michelle Houlden illustration

School board members have seen their duties change from a hands-on approach to handling broad-based education issues

Bert de Gooijer remembers helping lay a gymnasium floor and lining up contractors for the job when he first became a school trustee in 1999.

His role has changed significantly in the last 16 years. School board trustees now find themselves less involved in daily operations and more focused on shaping the overall direction of education in Saskatchewan.

The Saskatchewan School Board Association (SSBA) is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, prompting the government to name 2015 the Year of the Trustee.

School divisions across the province have undergone numerous amalgamations over the past 100 years, creating 28 larger districts from a high of 3,878 in 1916.

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De Gooijer has watched his division go to 1,300 staff members and a $100 million budget from 60 teachers with a $5 million budget.

“We used to be very hands on, but now, having gone through three amalgamations, our jobs are more focused on setting priorities,” said the farmer from Kelliher, Sask., vice-chair of the Prairie Valley School Division.

De Gooijer believes the transformation of the trustee’s role is a good one because it allows the province’s 259 school trustees to focus on issues that are larger in scope.

“A lot of our role now is advocacy work in terms of ensuring for a rural perspective and ensuring that folks in the government and ministry of education understand the need for, quite frankly, an equitable education system across the province.”

De Gooijer pointed to the distinctly rural issue of inadequate computer band width that was impeding the ability of rural teachers to use technology to its full capacity.

Trustees identified the issue, and lobby efforts by the school board association have resulted in increased government attention to the flow of digital information to rural areas.

“We said, ‘hey look, we need to see an increase,’ and we have seen that, so there has been some improvement,’” said De Gooijer, who is also involved in the SSBA.

SSBA president Connie Bailey said students in the province would not be as well served without local trustees.

“Trustees put in countless hours of their own time, and they care deeply about what goes on with the individual student,” she said.

Kathy Ponath of Naicam, Sask., who chairs the North East School Division, said trustees play a vital role in ensuring that the province’s various communities are heard.

Issues such as transportation and school closures are some of the more challenging ones for trustees, she added.

“It is important that each trustee bring the perspective of his or her particular region to the table, but at the end of the day, personal bias is put aside to make decisions that are in the best interest of the entire division,” said Ponath.

The modern role of a school trustee in 2015 is markedly different from that of their early counterparts, who were often active at the school level.

Ponath, whose great-grandfather was a trustee in the 1890s, said the role of trustees may have changed, but the general philosophy has not.

“The same beliefs that in-spired him (her great-grandfather) to work really hard and donate limited resources to establishing a school are the same beliefs I have.”

De Gooijer said funding will be one of the largest rural issues facing the education system this year.

“I think one of the biggest challenges now is developing a funding distribution formula that allows equitable funding across the province,” he said.

“There needs to be a recognition of geography for larger school divisions and the costs incurred in delivering services.”

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Christalee Froese

Freelance writer

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