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Annual fee will increase by $24 to $1,266
Delegates line up to express their views during ARA 2019.
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Over the May long weekend, delegates attending the 102nd Annual Representative Assembly (ARA) in Edmonton approved the budget for the 2019/20 fiscal year, resulting in a revised fee of $1,266 per year for a full-time teacher. This translates to a fee increase of $24, or $2 per month.
The assembly approved funds to support a number of new initiatives. While some programs have been discontinued, compared to the 2018/19 budget, overall expenditures are expected to increase by 1.58 per cent. Planned revenue increases in categories such as membership and registration fees, food services and facility rental, and tenant leases will help fund the targeted increase in spending.
Faced with a substantial increase in both the number and the complexity of professional conduct cases, ARA delegates voted in support of increasing the Member Services staffing complement by two, adding an executive staff position and also a professional staff role. Furthermore, to respond to increased demands for services and to better engage with and support members, an increase of 0.3 FTE (full-time equivalent) was approved to aid with discipline and translation and an 0.5 FTE added to increase graphic design capacity.
The 2019/20 budget included a proposed reduction to the annual amount allocated to the specialist council grant. After productive discussions and voting, delegates chose to leave the annual amount unchanged, and thus it will remain at $870,000 for the 2019/20 fiscal year.
In addition to approving a women’s conference and allocating resources to implement and prioritize the recommendations of the governance review currently underway, delegates approved funding for a status of women committee, which will support the ATA in implementing programs and policies to enhance gender equality and women’s participation in all aspects of member involvement.
Also, expenditures were approved to provide support to school leaders to enhance their capacity to ensure the occupational health and safety of staff and to fund a research study focused on teachers’ experiences with the implementation of the revised Teaching Quality Standard and Leadership Quality Standard.
Moreover, delegates approved a program of support for school leaders and member teachers with jurisdiction-level assignments to enhance their capacity in instructional supervision and grow their ability to work effectively and collaboratively with teachers, while fulfilling their roles as defined in the School Act and related regulations.
In addition to specific programs that are expected to conclude at the end of the current year, the proposed discontinuation of funding of 2Learn.ca was approved by delegates.
At the conclusion of a productive long weekend of debate, delegates approved an overall budget with a deficit of $56,200 (equivalent to 0.13 per cent of budgeted revenues). The annual fee for associate members will increase to $189.90. ❚
ARA on camera
