Cross Country Overview: Canadian School Board Structure and Trustee Profile Canadian School Boards Association April 2018 The national voice of school boards
Introduction Introduction In 2015, the Canadian School Boards Association set out to create a cross country portrait of the structure of school boards, as well as general information in the Canadian Public Education System. The information provided was compiled by the school boards in the various jurisdictions as well as from ministry of education reports. It has been used extensively to demonstrate the difference in structure and services provided by school boards and provincial / territorial associations. For the first time, we were able to compare student enrolment, the number of school boards and trustee/commissioner representation across the country. In 2018, another research initiative was established in order to further understand the specific demographics of trustees* serving our public school boards in our local communities. We hoped to develop a clear picture of the average person who represents their community on a school board; their age, their level of education, how many hours they work on school business, gender distribution, if they were parents, their profession and what did they earn in this role. In contrast to the occasional portrait painted in partisan politics, we have discovered that representation on Canadian School Boards is diverse, with a cross section of educated professionals, former educators, with years of different experiences and guidance to offer. While serving on any kind of board is difficult with a young family, many trustees are also parents of children in the system. The attached data will show that the leadership provided by school boards is fully representative of the communities they serve. In some jurisdictions, similar surveys had been completed in previous years and in those cases, we used the data already available. However, for the majority of trustees surveyed, the survey was done by the provincial/territorial association which we compiled to make a cross country comparison. We were able to compile a total of over 1300 answers or over 37% of Canadian Trustees in 9 jurisdictions. It is important to note that there is no federal department / ministry of education, therefore the structure in each province may vary, and the method of obtaining this data ranges from sources at provincial school board associations to provincial ministries of education. The data listed in the Education Structure part of the report was collected in 2015, while the data listed in the Trustee Demographic part was collected in 2018. *For the purposes of this report, the words trustee and commissioners are used interchangeably as per jurisdiction. CSBA REPRESENTATION / CROSS COUNTRY OVERVIEW # OF PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS 3,891,320 / 4,665,860 (83%) # OF PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARDS (and/or Authorities) 308 / 446 (69%) # OF TRUSTEES / COMMISSIONERS 2656 / 3484 (76%) 2 /
Data collected in 2015: Education Structure (Students, Boards, Trustees) Province Students Boards Trustees British Columbia 557,571 60 416 Alberta 620,475 65 450 Saskatchewan 173,548 28 253 Manitoba 182,073 38 316 Ontario 1,844,217 72 (+10 authorities) 716 English Public School Boards (OPSBA) 1,231,529 31 (+10 authorities) 356 French Public School Boards 24,434 8 82 English Catholic School Boards (OCSTA) 522,104 29 230 French Catholic School Boards 66,150 4 48 Quebec 959,925 72 772 French Public School Boards (FCSQ) 862,617 60 639 English Public School Boards (QESBA) 97,308 10 (1 special status) 95 Special Status - 2 - New Brunswick 98,906 *7 68 English Public School Boards 69,972 4 41 French Public School Boards 28,934 3 27 Nova Scotia 119,383 *1 (modified in 2018) *18 (modified in 2018) Newfoundland and Labrador 67,293 2 25 Prince Edward Island 20,131 *1 (modified in 2018) *11 (modified in 2018) English Public School Boards - *0 (modified in 2018) *0 (modified in 2018) French Public School Boards - 1 9 Yukon 5,086 **29 91 NorthWest Territories 8,367 **36 197 Nunavut 8,885 27 151 *Modified as boards were dissolved after the data was collected. **May be referred to as District Education Council or Authority depending on the province or territory. 3 /
Education Structure (Elections) Province With Municipal? Funding Next Election British Columbia Yes Funding for elections is shared with municipalities 2018 Alberta Yes Funding for elections is shared with municipalities 2021 Saskatchewan Yes Funding for elections is provided by the the government 2020 Manitoba Yes Funding for elections is done by school divisions 2018 Ontario Yes Funding for elections is provided by the the government 2018 Quebec No Funding for elections is done by school boards 2018 New Brunswick Yes Funding for elections is provided by the the government 2020 Nova Scotia Yes Funding for elections is done by school boards 2020 Newfoundland and Labrador Prince Edward Island Yes Funding for elections is provided by the government TBD Yes N / A 2018 Yukon No N / A 2018 Northwest Territories Yes N / A 2019 Nunavut Yes N / A 2018 4 /
Education Structure (Provincial Association Services) Overview The mission of the Provincial Associations is to enhance the work of locally elected school boards through leadership, advocacy and service, and to champion the cause of public education for all students. In order to do so, these associations provide member boards specific services, which vary among provincial associations. The following provincial breakdown will contain a list of services offered to board members who are represented by Provincial Associations. These services may include the following: Advocacy: Representing the interests of school boards by advocating as a collective and unified voice for education. Media/Communications Services: Offering communications information, support and strategic advice to member boards including: media relations, issues management, research and analysis, communications tools and tactics development, strategic communications planning, writing and editing. Development/Advisement on Governance: Providing events, information, services and resources to strengthen school boards capacity to govern effectively including: trustee education and board development, information and research, risk management workshops and presentations, strategic planning and meeting facilitation services, board and director evaluation, policy support. Insurance for Boards: Offering member boards group insurance coverage. Labour Relations: Providing member boards with a range of services and supports related to unionized and non-unionized employees, including: support staff agreements, bargaining support, interpretation, application and implementation of collective agreement language, human resources advice and support with recruitment. Legal Services: Providing member boards a team of lawyers uniquely experienced to provide legal advice in areas specific to the education sector. Pension : Providing member boards a defined contribution pension plan. This means that the benefit members receive at retirement depends on the contributions made and the investment performance of the pension fund. Services BCSTA ASBA SSBA MSBA OPSBA OCSTA FCSQ QESBA NB NS NLSBA PEI YUKON N.W.T. NUNAVUT Advocacy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Media/Communications Services No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Development/ Advisement on Governance Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Insurance for Boards No No Yes Yes No No No No No Labour Relations No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Legal Services Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Pension No No No Yes No No No No No 5 /
Trustee Profile (Canadian Overview) What gender do you identify with? Please indicate your highest level of education completed: High School 45% Female 55% Male 27% 23% 3 University- Undergradate Degree University - Masters / PhD *Does not include the results from FCSQ Do you have a child (or children) currently registered in the public education system? 35% 65% No Yes How many years have you served as a school board trustee / commissioner? 6% 19% 20% 44% 1-4 yrs 5-8 yrs 9-15 yrs 16-20 yrs 21+ yrs What is your age group? 39% 21% 2% 10% <29 60+ 6 /
Gender (Provincial Comparison) 1. What gender do you identify with? Male Female British Columbia Alberta Saskatchewan 35% 65% 39% 61% 50% 50% Manitoba Ontario (OPSBA) Ontario (OCSTA) 43% 57% 40% 60% 51% 49% Quebec (FCSQ) Quebec (QESBA) New Brunswick 49% 47% 51% 53% 52% 4 7 /
Age (Provincial Comparison) 2. What is your age group? *Different age categories British Columbia Alberta Saskatchewan 32% 27% 2 31% 23% 23% 21% 26% 26% 1% <29 60-69 69+ 2% 13% < 29 60-69 69+ *Manitoba Ontario (OPSBA) Ontario (OCSTA) 6% 1% 7% 10% <29 60-69 69+ 1% 13% 32% 31% < 29 60+ 1% 7% *Quebec (FCSQ) *Quebec (QESBA) New Brunswick 34% 25% 19% < 29 60-69 69+ 1% 1% 6% 2 4 15% <29 60-69 69+ 1 30% 32% 27% 35% 13% 25% 13% 3% <29 60+ 1% 6% <29 60+ 4% <29 60-69 70+ 8 /
Education (Provincial Comparison) 3. Please indicate your highest level of education completed: British Columbia Alberta Saskatchewan 30% 13% 26% 34% 30% 35% Manitoba Ontario (OPSBA) Ontario (OCSTA) 21% 34% 6% 33% 51% 27% 37% Note that the University - Undergraduate Degree category here includes Post Secondary certificate or diploma, which would normally fall under the other category. High School University - Undergraduate Degree University - Graduate Degree (Masters, PhD) 9 /
Education (Provincial Comparison) Quebec (QESBA) Quebec (FCSQ) 0% New Brunswick 36% 6% 35% 15% 46% 16% 16% 23% 39% 56% Note that the High School category here includes CEGEP, which would normally fall under the other category, which is currently at 0%. 10 /
Employment (Provincial Comparison) 4. Which of the following best describes your employment? British Columbia Alberta Stay-at-home Parent 0% 5% 31% 23% Stay-at-home 2% 31% Business Owner 20% Business 21% Saskatchewan Ontario (OPSBA) 3% 2% 5% 1% Stay-at-home Parent 3% Stay-at-home Parent 6% 37% 23% 27% Business Owner 26% Business Owner 16% Ontario (OCSTA) Quebec (FCSQ) 0% 5% 4% 5% Stay-at-home Parent 4% Stay-at-home Parent 7% 49% 21% 31% Business Owner 7% Technical Services Business owner category does not exist. Technical Services was added. 11 /
Employment (Provincial Comparison) Quebec (QESBA) New Brunswick Stay-at-home Parent 3% 6% 9% 26% 32% Stay-at-home Parent Business Owner 0% 0% 32% 40% Business owner category does not exist. Manitoba Not Answered Currently unemployed Student Homemaker Public administration Accommodation and food services Information, culture and recreation Health care and social assistance Educational services Business, building and other support services Retail, retail management, scientific and technical services Finance, insurance, real estate and leasing Transportation and warehousing Trade Manufacturing Construction Utilities Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas Agriculture 0.5% 18.6% 0.5% 0.5% 1.4% 3.3% 1.9% 4. 4. 1.4% 3. 2.4% 0.5% 0.5% 1.4% 8.6% 9.5% 8.6% 8.1% 8.6% 10.5% 12 /
Children in Public Education System (Provincial Comparison) 5. Do you have a child (or children) currently registered in the public education system? Yes No British Columbia Alberta Saskatchewan 40% 41% 31% 60% 59% 69% Manitoba Ontario (OPSBA) Ontario (OCSTA) 39% 61% 76% 86% Quebec (FCSQ) Quebec (QESBA) New Brunswick 47% 53% 45% 55% 32% 6 13 /
Experience (Provincial Comparison) 6. How many years have you served as a school board trustee / commissioner? 1-4 yrs 5-8 yrs 9-15 yrs 16-20 yrs 21+ yrs British Columbia 7% 5% 40% 23% 20% Alberta 5% 3% 61% Saskatchewan 44% 16% 25% 21% Ontario (OPSBA) Ontario (OCSTA) Quebec (FCSQ) 10% 7% 20% 41% 5% 25% 13% 4 Quebec (QESBA) New Brunswick 0% 4% Manitoba 5% 10% 15% 53% 32% 20% 44% 7% 13% 33% 2 yrs or less 2-6 yrs 6-10 yrs 10-14 yrs 14-18 yrs 18 + yrs 14 /
Hours (Provincial Comparison) 7. Roughly how many hours per month do you work on school board activities? British Columbia Alberta Saskatchewan 44% 39% 52% 23% 16% 9% 1 7% 15 or fewer 16-30 31-50 51+ 15 or fewer 16-30 31-50 51+ 15 or fewer 16-30 31-50 51+ *Manitoba 56% Ontario (OPSBA) 41% Ontario (OCSTA) 50% 27% 5% 10% 27% 1 1 < 20 20-40 40-60 60 + *Quebec (FCSQ) 43% 40% 15 or fewer 16-30 31-50 51+ *Quebec (QESBA) 42% 15 or fewer 16-30 31-50 51+ New Brunswick 52% 27% 16% < 20 21-40 41-60 61+ < 20 21-40 41-60 61 + 15 or fewer 16-30 31-50 51+ *These provinces have different age categories 15 /