Harold Laich retained the chairman's position with the South East Cornerstone Public School Division on Nov. 21, when the board of trustees held their annual organizational meeting in Weyburn.
Taking a break from their regular monthly business session, the trustees spent about 20 minutes devoted to the task of rearranging themselves into various committees and leadership roles for the coming fiscal year.
In unanimous fashion, the trustees decided to keep Laich at the helm while selecting Audrey Trombley, a former chairwoman of the division, as vice-chair.
"Thanks for your confidence and trust," said Laich, in accepting the role for a second year. "I indicated when I took it on last year it would only be for two years maximum," he added.
"I will support the chairman and this board, and I also thank you for your confidence," said Trombley.
Admitting that they had done a lot of pre-meeting background work, the trustees quickly formatted and passed motions regarding their new committee configurations, which included an audit committee, budget manager, Saskatchewan School Board Association representation, First Nations and Metis Committee, Comprehensive schools governance authority representatives, high school athletic association representation along with a couple of ad hoc committees on a sustainability review and a pending agreement with the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division regarding shared governance of the comprehensive schools.
During the reorganization process, the board members voted themselves a $5 raise in their indemnity allowances, which now gives them $230 per day for meetings that exceed four hours or $345 per day if the meeting exceeds eight hours in duration.
Meetings of less than four hours (including travel time for out-of-city trustees) call for an indemnity of $115 or one-half of a full day's pay.
The trustees also receive one per diem ($230) each month to compensate them for the time spent on preparation for committee and board meetings. There is an additional per diem allotted to the chairman in recognition of the added work and time that is required of the person holding that position.
One-third of the trustee's pay is deemed non-taxable.
The trustees also receive an allowance of $200 per month for their benefit plan.
The board members will also receive .43 cents per kilometre for travel allowances with flexibility in the formula that allows for upward or downward movement on a quarterly basis according to gas prices at the pump.
The trustees established a date for the annual meeting of electors with that being Feb. 20 of next year and will release their annual report shortly after that event.
Based on a recommendation from last year's audit committee, the board will implement an ethical practices policy and procedure to ensure that all board members and employees are clear as to what is expected of them in this regard.
"It's a compliant procedure really, a last resort procedure that we can pick up if other avenues fail," said Trombley in introducing the motion of acceptance.
"It's a common policy, the auditors recommend it for any larger organization or business. I don't expect we'll have to use it, but it's still valuable to have."
The trustees voted in favour of holding a meeting schedule of the second Thursday each month with a couple of exceptions in 2014.
They will meet again for the final general business session for 2013, on Dec. 19.
