Fix mess at CBE fast or be fired, education minister tells elected trustees

[Slava]

Originally Posted by IliketoPuck

The CBE scored well in procurement and maintenance, to their credit. I would suggest that is indicative of good work done by certain departments, and not necessarily reflective of leadership from the Trustee level.

The gap in governance led directly to the reserve fund of 0.7%, which then led to 300 layoffs, 300 re-hiring, and dipping into funds set aside for maintenance purposes (one of the two areas they are actually competent at). The emotional roller coaster on employees who one week are told they have a job, and then they don't, and then they have it back again.....there were real, human, consequences to the CBE's mismanagement.

To me that says financial ineptitude, a lack of planning, and a desire to score political points by painting the UPC as the bad guys. When in comparison, the other boards in the province were not caught unawares to the same extent that the CBE was.

The lack of governance and controls also led to the building decision being allowed to happen in the first place. This has been a problem for a really long time. And yes, it is easy to tell them to sublet space. But the fact that they only contemplated a binary option (buy or sell) is indicative again of the weak financial governance in place.

I forgot to comment about the lack of financial acumen actually, and that's honestly deplorable.

The lack of a reserve is a rough one though. The province undoubtedly knew they had no reserves, and that they were not allowed to touch the maintenance reserves for these purposes. So, they had no real option but to suggest that they cut positions in November...and the province had to have known that? So, the CBE went down the only possible path at that time and issued the layoff notices. The province was mad (which is really why this audit was conducted), and suddenly allowed them to use the maintenance reserves...the CBE follows suit and keeps the staff with the reserves, and they get tarred for that now. At that point, it's evidently a no-win situation.

And as far as how they got into the position of having no reserves, that would take some research. But for an organization that relies entirely on the provincial government for funding to have an audit and one of the main suggestions is "they should have a reserve fund" is a little bit weird. To me, that's not exactly news. I don't know if they've arrived there due to mismanagement or due to lack of funding where they spent the reserves to keep things rolling or a combination of the two?

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Slava

I forgot to comment about the lack of financial acumen actually, and that's honestly deplorable.

The lack of a reserve is a rough one though. The province undoubtedly knew they had no reserves, and that they were not allowed to touch the maintenance reserves for these purposes. So, they had no real option but to suggest that they cut positions in November...and the province had to have known that? So, the CBE went down the only possible path at that time and issued the layoff notices. The province was mad (which is really why this audit was conducted), and suddenly allowed them to use the maintenance reserves...the CBE follows suit and keeps the staff with the reserves, and they get tarred for that now. At that point, it's evidently a no-win situation.

And as far as how they got into the position of having no reserves, that would take some research. But for an organization that relies entirely on the provincial government for funding to have an audit and one of the main suggestions is "they should have a reserve fund" is a little bit weird. To me, that's not exactly news. I don't know if they've arrived there due to mismanagement or due to lack of funding where they spent the reserves to keep things rolling or a combination of the two?

As you say, not having a reserve points to a funding gap in my mind. And just like the building lease, it's also not really on the current board. They inherited the problem.

Kind of hard for the current board to build a reserve during a downturn in the economy when your funding is getting cut, enrollment is going up, and then a global pandemic hits.

Are there problems? Absolutely. But the Government isn't helping resolve those by going to the media about their "reckless financial mismanagement" and threatening to fire them all.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Torture

As you say, not having a reserve points to a funding gap in my mind. And just like the building lease, it's also not really on the current board. They inherited the problem.

Kind of hard for the current board to build a reserve during a downturn in the economy when your funding is getting cut, enrollment is going up, and then a global pandemic hits.

Are there problems? Absolutely. But the Government isn't helping resolve those by going to the media about their "reckless financial mismanagement" and threatening to fire them all.

What about the other 3 big boards in Alberta? How do they compare? Why is CBE the only one getting looked at?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Torture

As you say, not having a reserve points to a funding gap in my mind. And just like the building lease, it's also not really on the current board. They inherited the problem.

Kind of hard for the current board to build a reserve during a downturn in the economy when your funding is getting cut, enrollment is going up, and then a global pandemic hits.

Are there problems? Absolutely. But the Government isn't helping resolve those by going to the media about their "reckless financial mismanagement" and threatening to fire them all.

And to be fair...the CBE is playing a bit of a game here as well. While they might not have people with a lot of financial knowledge, they're also not complete fools. So, when the government said "you can use the maintenance reserves" for the teaching positions that was somewhat calculated. They use those reserves, and if anything happens that would have required those reserves, the province basically has to step in. In other words...sure, we'll use that reserve and if a roof caves in and needs to be replaced we all know it's backstopped by the province anyway.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Weitz

What about the other 3 big boards in Alberta? How do they compare? Why is CBE the only one getting looked at?

The study notes that the average Alberta board has a reserve of 4%. Not sure about other categories.

[IliketoPuck]

Originally Posted by GGG

The study notes that the average Alberta board has a reserve of 4%. Not sure about other categories.

Correct.

It also notes that the CBE could have chose tougher measures, sooner, but did not.

Clearly other provincial boards have made choices in the past with the same source of funding to leave themselves in a more viable financial position.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

Having a go at the school board is a tried and true conservative platform most provinces, the SocialCreditliberals liked nothing better than a fight with those lefty commie teachers at the Vancouver School Board

Again. There isn't "the school board". There are 4 major school boards in this province and the government is going after 1 of them, not the other three. What's the political agenda?

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

Again. There isn't "the school board". There are 4 major school boards in this province and the government is going after 1 of them, not the other three. What's the political agenda?

to successfully get people to bitch about the big bad evil schoolboard instead of rightfully talking about this absolutely garbage heap of a government.

[flamingred89]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

to successfully get people to bitch about the big bad evil schoolboard instead of rightfully talking about this absolutely garbage heap of a government.

Ha. Or to keep an agency that doles out public funds responsible?

Why do we have to treat that public sector with kid gloves when it comes to discussing finances? We should probably just give the CBE a hug and tell them everything is going to be ok.

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by flamingred89

Ha. Or to keep an agency that doles out public funds responsible?

Why do we have to treat that public sector with kid gloves when it comes to discussing finances? We should probably just give the CBE a hug and tell them everything is going to be ok.

Is there a reasonable middle ground between treating an agency with kid gloves, and, tweeting out threats and ginning up outrage over social media?

same report also found, btw, that the spending wasn't exactly out of line or outrageous. It seems the only thing people are getting hung up on is the reserves being low.