The Alberta School Boards Association (ASBA) has posted a Frequently Asked Questions document and a budget video online for its upcoming 2018 budget … but both files require a password to view.

This is disappointing as the ASBA is essentially funded with tax dollars. Well, technically it receives its funding from school boards, but we know where they receive their funding – taxpayers. For that reason, we’ve advocated for greater transparency at the ASBA in the past. (Notably after discovering it spent over $900 on a Staff Easter Egg hunt gathering a few years ago – click here)

Thankfully, we’ve obtained a copy of the ASBA’s Frequently Asked Questions document for its 2018 budget – click here to view.

As you can see there are a few interesting tidbits in the document, notably:

• The ASBA wants to raise fees on school boards by 7% this year. This would mean $205,341 would flow from school boards to the ASBA’s bureaucracy
• Salaries are increasing at the ASBA – something that a trustee questioned, noting that school boards are having to freeze salaries for many of their own staff
• One trustee asked – “why do you have so many administrative assistants?” (The ASBA’s website suggests 7 of its 19 staff are admin assistants)
• A trustee asked about the CEO’s salary – it sounds like it still isn't regularly disclosed to trustees

Again, taxpayers should be able to see the actual ASBA budget ... but in the mean time, it's nice to be able to gain a bit more insight as to what's happening at the ASBA.