$2,400 for a pair of office chairs.

Does that sound like something a school board that is cut to the bone should be purchasing?

Well, that's what the Prairie Valley School Division did recently. In fact, the chairs were approved not long after the division walked into the Minister of Education's office to plead poverty as a result of the new funding formula. Some of you may recall that meeting as the board had planned to head to a spa retreat following the meeting (apparently they rethought that decision in the end.)

The Prairie Valley School Division is also the same board that set up cryptic back-to-back motions to allow its Education Director to resign and get rehired; thus allowing him to be able to draw on his pension and earn a salary at the same time.

In total, the division spent over $21,000 in office equipment for just three offices. I don't know what the magic number is for what an appropriate figure is for office furniture for an executive, but these examples seem a bit much for a board that is claiming poverty at the same time.

Here's a link to the recent FOI on furniture purchases and you can decide for yourself - /media/PVSDFurniture.pdf