Public data, private price tag: AES PAC hit with $1,560 fee from SD83 for asking how schools are funded
This spring, the Armstrong Elementary School Parent Advisory Council (AES PAC) submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI/FIPPA) request to School District 83 (SD83). We asked a straightforward question: How are public schools funded and staffed across the district?
We didn’t receive data. We received a bill.
SD83’s response included no records – only an estimate that it would take 55 hours of a Certified Professional Accountant’s time to prepare the data, costing $1,560. That fee would have to come from parent-led fundraising. That is money meant to support student programs, not district administration.
Current concerns
Here’s a simple list of the problems AES PAC is having with SD83:
- Lack of transparency around school-level finances and staffing
- FOI response included no data, only a $1,560 fee estimate
- Delay tactics: SD83 waited until the last legal day to respond
- Claimed 55 hours of CPA work for basic data that should take <3 hours
- Refusal to provide even basic enrollment and staffing numbers
- No explanation for why the data isn’t already published
- Avoidance of early engagement, contrary to OIPC recommendations
- Attempting to charge parent-raised funds for access to public data
- Pattern of withholding information in past parent inquiries
- Failure to demonstrate equity in resource allocation across schools
We believe that basic school-level financial information should be readily available to the public. These are taxpayer-funded schools. The district accountant earns over $200,000 per year to manage this data. These are not hidden secrets, they are totals that should be regularly reviewed and shared.
According to BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), public bodies must respond within 30 business days and are encouraged to engage early and disclose records in stages. Instead, SD83 used the full time allowed, responded on the final day, and offered only a price tag. The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) guidance discourages this kind of delay and encourages proactive disclosure.
We are not giving up. But we need your help.
How you can take action
These are the people you can email to share your concerns. Please consider CC-ing the AES PAC (brickschoolpac@gmail.com) if you are comfortable so we can understand your key concerns to add to our advocacy work.
School District 83
Superintendent/CEO Donna Kriger: dkriger@sd83.bc.ca
Acting Secretary Treasurer/Director of Finance Jeremy Hunt: jhunt@sd83.bc.ca
Manager of Executive Services Heather Morris: hmorris@sd83.bc.ca
Assistant Superintendent Michelle Guillou: mguillou@sd83.bc.ca
Assistant Superintendent Chelsea Prince: cprince@sd83.bc.ca
Director of Instruction Reid Findlay: rfindlay@sd83.bc.ca
Director of Instruction Jen Findlay: jfindlay@sd83.bc.ca
School Board Trustee & Board Chair Corryn Grayston: cgraysto@sd83.bc.ca
School Board Trustee & Vice Chair Tennile Lachmuth: tlachmut@sd83.bc.ca
School Board Trustee Brent Gennings: bgenning@sd83.bc.ca
School Board Trustee Amanda Krebs: akrebs@sd83.bc.ca
School Board Trustee Marianne VanBuskirk: mvanbusk@sd83.bc.ca
SD83 Communications: communications@sd83.bc.ca
BC Ministry of Education
Minister of Education Lisa Beare: ecc.minister@gov.bc.ca
Deputy Minister of Education Kathryn Krishna: dm.education@gov.bc.ca
Ministery of Education Communications Sarah White: sara.white@gov.bc.ca
Ministery of Education PR Jeremy Uppenborn: jeremy.uppenborn@gov.bc.ca
Parent Groups
District-Wide PAC: sd83dpac@gmail.com
AES PAC: brickschoolpac@gmail.com
Speak up for transparency in public education.
If there’s nothing to hide, there should be nothing to charge for. Let’s work together to tear down the paywall.