Simply put

I am a member of our school council this year. Not a member of the executive, but a "member at large".  I've been good about attending meetings (as opposed to last year where I forgot every single one) mostly because my friend Jen is co-chair and another friend is vice-chair. 

We're having some trouble agreeing on things at school council. Namely what our focus is for this year for the profits from our fund-raising events. In the past there have been things like play structures, a light system for the gym/auditorium, a sound system. This year we were going to focus on a lawn for the back school yard, but then the school board stepped in and said we were due to have the yard re-sod, so that left us looking for a cause.

We turned to the teachers and to their wish list. The number one thing on that list? Levelled readers. Most of ours date back to when the school opened in 1991, and are either ratty or just plain irrelevant in terms of current events (some date from the 1980's... the publication if not the books. I am sure I must have seen some of them in my days).

So levelled readers it was - and they are not cheap. I believe they are about $1000 a set. 

I'll spare you all the boring, petty details but at the December meeting (which I missed, for good reasons) there was a small brouhaha over money. As in, we had none to buy these levelled readers with. Or so our treasurer insisted.

Now our treasurer this year was the chair for the past two years. He magnanimously stepped down to be treasurer because our past treasurer had moved away and as he said "Someone has to do it". Except that he seems to be having trouble realizing that he is not treasurer AND chair. And he has some elaborate system for the accounting and requested a large transfer to the field trip bus account in the fall which has left us (according to him) without any money to spend on things we want to -mostly because he is insisting that we leave a large balance in the account by year end.

And things got ugly on Monday. Our chair asked for money (there have been executive meetings regarding the budget) for books. He said no, there wasn't any. Pretty much everyone in the room with the exception of his wife (the secretary) and the principal (who has to stay neutral) was trying to give reasons for why we should spend some money (ie: talk some sense in to him). He just kept droning on and on about the global recession, and how all our fundraisers were going to take a huge hit (lunch programs more specifically) and how there was going to be no money, yadda yadda yadda and then alternately bit the head off anyone who made any point (Did you you am I am spendthrift parent spending other people's money? Me neither.)

Eventually is came down to a vote. A vote where everyone at the table raised their hand in favour of buying books for our children - everyone but him and his wife (who was busy taking notes, I felt for her poor woman). He proclaimed LOUDLY that he was not in favour of spending the money. Too bad, outnumbered buddy.

The next morning at the bus stop the vice-chair asked me how I'd enjoyed the meeting. We both grumbled about the issue and then she told me that her husband had put it very succinctly:

"So your treasurer voted AGAINST buying books for the students?"

Think about that for a second. We have over $5000 in the bank, no expenses left and he voted against buying books. Against buying books in a school where we have a large ESL population. Where we have enough underprivileged kids that we seem to be catering underprivileged families more often than I would like. Kids whose parents, sadly, may not be the ones taking them to the library to read books. To get them hooked on reading. To expanding their childrens' horizons - for some it is for very good reasons, heavy work loads, second jobs etc - there just aren't enough hours in the week for some of these parents.

And he voted against buying books. Against buying books.

I can't get over it. If I didn't have good friends in the executive I would have to withdraw from the committee. 

Except that would probably let him get away with more stuff. Grrrrr.