With municipal elections on the horizon, the Nanaimo school district board is exploring the idea of eliminating a pair of trustee positions.
The board is seeking public opinion on whether to reduce the number of trustees from nine to seven in a move that would see an annual savings of $45,000 for the school district.
“Right now we’re just in the process of getting all the information together for the consultation process,” said Donna Reimer, school district spokeswoman.
The district said it has moved from a management model to a governance model which has trustees operating at the policy level, with managers running the district and that – coupled with the need to find money to balance the budget – makes it a good time to examine trustee reduction.
Written submissions must be received by 4 p.m. on June 19 and concerned citizens can provide input by writing to the school district board, 395 Wakesiah Ave., Nanaimo, B.C., V9R 3K6; faxing 250-741-5309; or e-mailing the board courtesy of Cathy Kelt, school district executive assistant, at ckelt@sd68.bc.ca.
People can also make a short presentation to the board at a June 18 meeting and can register by calling 250-741-5238 or emailing Kelt. The deadline to reserve a presentation time is June 13 at 4 p.m.
The board will decide at its June 25 meeting whether it will ask to implement the reduction by the time of the next trustee election in November.