Surrey school trustees claimed more than $34,000 in expenses during the 2014-15 school year.
The figures are included in the school district’s recently released Statement of Financial Information (SOFI), which is made public annually.
The financial year-end was somewhat complicated for the board of education, as it encompassed existing trustees, as well as ones who either retired or didn’t get re-elected in 2014.
The top spenders were Trustees Shawn Wilson (who’s also chairperson) and Laurae McNally, who filed expenses of $5,831 and $5,471, respectively, between June 2014 and June 2015.
The next highest were Trustee Bob Holmes, elected in the November 2014 civic vote, who expensed $5,372; longtime Trustee Terry Allen ($5,040); and retired Trustee Pam Glass ($4,901).
First-time Trustee Gurpreet (Garry) Thind’s expenses totalled $3,173; re-elected Trustee Laurie Larsen’s were $2,276; newly elected Trustee Gary Tymoschuk’s were $1,370; and former Trustee Charlene Dobie’s tab was $958. Retired Trustee Reni Masi submitted no expenses. (Dobie’s expenses are for July to November 2014, while Thind, Tymoschuk and Holmes’ are for December 2014 to June 2015 only).
The expenses are on top of the board members’ annual remuneration, which totalled $220,085 for 2014-15.
The pay and expenses of the elected (and outgoing) officials accounted for a fraction of the multiple millions paid to the school district’s thousands of employees last year.
The total of all salaries, including those of management, principals, teachers and support staff, was about $446.5 million for the 2014-15 school year.
Wages for those making more than $75,000 per year came to $153 million, while those making less than $75,000 totalled $293 million. Staff also submitted expenses of approximately $1.3 million in addition to their salaries.
Shawn Silverstone, Surrey’s former assistant manager of international education, had the highest expense claim, submitting $63,886 for reimbursement. District Supt. Jordan Tinney was next up with a $63,110 tab. Other top spenders were Angela Olson, manager of international education ($43,926); deputy superintendent Rick Ryan ($41,442); and secretary-treasurer Wayne Noye ($34,232).
Most of the district’s staff submitted significantly lower, or no expenses.
The Surrey School District is the biggest in B.C. and also Surrey’s largest employer, with more than 10,000 employees (including about 5,700 teachers).
The full 2015 SOFI can be viewed at http://bit.ly/1T20i3a
