January 31, 2020

On accountability, responsibility and trust

In a previous blog post, I shared my thoughts on the passion and purpose of locally-elected public school board trustees.

In that post, I promised I would come back to something called “fiduciary responsibility” and why that’s so important in the public school board context.

Essentially, the job of trustees is three-fold: advocacy (passion), governance (purpose) and relationships (trust).

So what exactly is governance, and why is it so important that you have locally-elected representatives to make decisions about K-12 public school education in your community?

The current provincial budget for K-12 education in Alberta is $8.2 billion. Especially now, with tight budgets, it’s vitally important your public school board trustees make good decisions about how best to invest your school jurisdiction’s share of that $8.2 billion. Because no two school jurisdictions are exactly alike, the priorities and decisions of each school board will be different, but trustees will always do their best to listen to and meet the education needs of students and families in your community.

That’s exactly why we need public school board trustees in the first place. The provincial government allocates dollars for K-12 education, but there is no one-size-fits-all approach that works for all communities and jurisdictions across Alberta. Local school board trustees work hard to create customized goals and education plans that best meet local needs, and choose how best to allocate provincial dollars based on those needs.

There’s no doubt we live in challenging times. As Alberta’s population continues to grow, we need more public schools, more classrooms, more teachers and student aides, help for complex student learning needs, school lunches, efficient student busing – especially in rural areas – and the list goes on and on. Funding decisions in one area have to be carefully made so they don’t short-change another important area. It’s a delicate balancing act, to say the least.

That’s why advocacy and governance are two halves of the same coin. Public school trustees are always advocating for more awareness of K-12 public education issues and more funding, because they’re so focused on doing everything they can to help all students reach their full potential. It’s why they’re trustees in the first place. But they are also pragmatic, recognizing there aren’t unlimited resources, so they take very seriously the job of making those limited dollars go as far as they possibly can.

On fiduciary responsibility, one of the most important responsibilities of your public school board trustees is to approve the jurisdiction’s annual budget. The board is accountable for the dollars invested and spent, and the board reports back to the Alberta government on the dollars spent and the outcomes achieved.

So, fiduciary responsibility can be defined as the legal obligation of one party – school board trustees – to act in the best interests of another – the community and residents whom trustees serve and represent. Public school board trustees are entrusted with the care and management of public dollars allocated for local K-12 education, and they take professional development training throughout their tenure as trustees to ensure they have the training they need to do their job.

Passion, purpose, accountability, trust and responsibility. These attributes are just part of the reason your local public school board trustees are dedicated to serve you and your community.

What do you think is the most important attribute of a public school board trustee?