About School Board Trustees
Who can be a school board trustee?
To qualify to be an elected trustee of the Upper Grand District School Board, a person must be, on voting day a Canadian Citizen, of the full age of eighteen years, a resident within the area or jurisdiction of the board, and an English public school elector.
The Upper Grand District School Board has 10 elected Trustee members who represent various municipalities within the counties of Dufferin and Wellington. Two non-elected Student Trustees are appointed on a rotating basis. Further information on the student position can be obtained through the Communications Office.
Elected trustees receive an honorarium of $5,900 per year established by the Province of Ontario. In addition to the honorarium, there is an additional amount of $5,000 for the chair, $2,500 for the vice chair, and enrolment amounts based on the number of students (FTE) in the board for all trustees. Trustee expenses are also paid while on authorized Board business (as per board policy 707).
The roles and responsibilities of your trustee
School board trustees hold no individual authority. The school board is the source of all decisions and individual trustees are given no authority through the Education Act. Once the board of trustees has voted, individual trustee members are legally bound by the majority decision, regardless of whether they supported it during debate or voted in opposition.
Responsibilities of your trustees:
- Boards, in consultation with their administrators and their school communities (principals, teachers, support staff, and school councils) set local policies, priorities and budgets within the framework of provincial legislation and policy.
- Boards establish their local budgets within the scope provided by their funding allocation. They are responsible for ensuring that their schools and staff have the professional capacity and the appropriate resources to meet both provincial and local board policies and priorities. They are equally responsible for spending the public funds they receive from the province in a cost-effective and appropriate way.
- Boards hold their directors of education accountable for meeting provincial and board policies and for ensuring that the board’s funding allocation is spent in keeping with the board’s budget.
- Boards are accountable to their communities (their electors) and to the Province for continuous improvement in the level of student achievement in their schools.
Do you have a problem or concern?
Sometimes parents/guardians have questions or issues with which they need help. These may be related to your children, or their school, or it might relate to our schools in general.
Who do you turn to for help?
First, have you spoken to your child’s teacher? If you have and you’re still not satisfied, then speak to the Principal. Further on, your next step would be to speak to the Superintendent of Education, then the Director and finally, your local trustee.