By Curtis Galbraith

Schools

Catholic school board trustees cut honorarium by four per cent

Dec 17, 2020 | 5:27 PM

Trustees with Grande Prairie and District Catholic Schools are taking a four per cent pay cut.

This amounts to a $642 per year reduction in the base honorarium.

Board chair Michael Ouelette says this comes after discussions with the province about finances.

“(With) what the province is going through and everything, we thought we would show leadership and take a reduction,” said Ouelette.

“The board was very supportive of it (when) we explained why. The government is asking a lot of people to take reductions and we wanted to get out in front of it and do it right away.”

Ouelette says this is not a huge amount of money but is an important sign that shows the province that the division is keeping an eye on costs.

“We are very aware of what the pandemic has done. With education, we want the money in front of the students as much as possible.

“We’re also looking at a decrease in the number of students, so that will affect our budget as well.”

Ouelette says the district has seen an enrollment drop of between six to seven per cent for the current school year after some families have moved away.

He adds district officials, like everyone else, are hoping the economy turns around.

“This province is very strong. We’re a very strong, strong district and we’re very financially secure, so we’re able to weather some of this right now” said Ouelette.

“We’re hoping the province bounces back and people come back to Alberta and we can just move on from this.”

Trustee pay had been at $16,046 per year. The cut drops it to $15,404.