Chilliwack’s school trustee team is earning significantly less than their counterparts in Abbotsford.
Board chair Willow Reichelt receives $27,362 annually while her counterpart up the freeway, Korky Neufeld, pulls in 53 per cent more at $41,766.
SD33 vice chair Carin Bondar earns $25,597 while Abbotsford vice chair Mike Rauch receives $36,947. That’s a 44 per cent difference.
Chilliwack’s other five trustees — David Swankey, Teri Westerby, Margaret Reid, Richard Procee and Heather Maahs — receive $24,170 annually while their Abbotsford counterparts earn $32,128. That’s a 33 per cent gap.
Remuneration for the seven local trustees in SD33 is tied to the Canadian Consumer Price Index (CPI). According to the Statistics Canada website, it “measures price change by comparing, through time, the cost of a fixed basket of goods and services.”
The CPI approximates cost of living, but Stats Canada says it’s not a direct comparable. The CPI is good at reflecting year-over-year inflation.
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Abbotsford’s trustee pay is based on recommendations from a 14-page ad-hoc committee report that was received Dec. 13.
The result is a 24 per cent increase from what the previous board was paid. Defending the pay raise to new trustee Jared White, longtime Abbotsford trustee Shirley Wilson said “The work is complicated, it’s complex and if it was easy they wouldn’t need us. While there is a steeper increase at this time, nobody here is gaining financially from this. This is put back into the work that we do.”
Reichelt said the trustee role eats up 10 to 20 hours of her time each week. They get the summer off and she calculated their remuneration at around $30/hour.
”I can’t speak for the board on this, but I believe Chilliwack trustees are appropriately compensated,” she said. “I would not be able to justify a significant pay raise at this time.
Trustee David Swankey agreed, saying the matter was reviewed by an external committee in 2019 and those recommendations still guide the board. He said $30/hour is appropriate compensation for a person working 20 hours a week for 40 weeks a year.
But he added one caveat.
“The challenge here is do all trustees put in this time? Do some go above and beyond?” he asked. “As an example, I commit a lot more time to BCSTA (BC School Trustees Association) and Ministry of Education committees that I am not remunerated for. I’m not saying I should be, but the 20 hours per week doesn’t necessarily work when you look at each individuals’ approach to the role.”
Swankey added that lower compensation can also be a barrier for people who want to serve their community but can’t afford to do so.
“They have to weigh the cost of supporting themselves or their families,” he explained. “As an example, childcare may be a significant cost associated with a parent taking on the role. I know it has been a cost for my family, but I also know I have the privilege of a dual-income household and a spouse that supports when I commit. A single parent may have a valuable perspective to bring to the board, but they have barriers others don’t.”
Abbotsford’s trustee remuneration is reviewed every four years and will be revisited in 2026 with the formation of another committee to produce another report.
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eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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