by Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 12/97) - School board trustee hopefuls can expect plenty of budget questions as the October 20 election approaches.

Budget cuts as well as education quality are being cited as big concerns by members of the parent advisory committee.

Last year, the public board slashed its budget by $2.3 million to $17.6 million.

Parents are looking for trustees with budget management skills as well as experience in computer and technology fields, Mildred Hall parent advisory committee member Pam Dunbar said.

"I don't want people learning (how to manage a budget this big) on our system."

Taxation for Ingraham trail residents is also expected to be among the issues, Dunbar added.

"Our parent advisory committee had started to pursue this. It will be interesting to hear what people say."

Yellowknife Education District No. 1 superintendent Ken Woodley has sent a letter to the deputy minister of education, Mark Cleveland, to clarify the Ingraham student-fee issue after meeting with Ingraham Trail MLAs.

But for Shannon Gullberg, chair of the Ecole St. Joseph school parent advisory committee, "the big issue, from a parent's perspective, is budget cutbacks."

If cutbacks are inevitable, parents want to have input, she said. "Parents appreciate that these are times of decreased resources."

There are also concerns that budget cutbacks are occurring while class sizes get bigger, she said.

Sir John Franklin high school PAC member Gail Morse said high school renovations are an issue.

"No question, it's necessary. It's been put on hold for a long time," she said. "I'd like to see school board trustees working closely with other board trustees, collaborating on programs," she added.

The issues are expected to be fleshed out after a community liaison committee meeting, which is to include all parent advisory committee members, scheduled for early October.

Yk No. 1 and Yellowknife Catholic Schools trustee elections are Oct. 20. Advance polls are Oct. 10.

So far, there's no race as the returning officer has only received one nomination for Yk1 and two nominations for separate school board trustee.

There are seven spots on each board.

Yk1 trustee Terry Brookes has been nominated.

For the separate board, current chairman Noel O'Sullivan and Father Basil Boudreau have been nominated.

Nomination deadline is Monday at 3 p.m.