PETER KING CONSULTING

        In the 1990 school board election I was elected as a school trustee:
         Presently Coast Mountains School District no.82
         over 100 employees  union and non union
         Depending on Eurocan's official count the second or third largest
         employer in the area
         8000 students from kindergarten to grade 12
         55 million dollar a year budget
         Hundreds of millions in real estate and other assets
         District covers a land mass area, half the size of France

Professional development as a trustee has been:
British Columbia school trustees association training:
         Labor negotiations
         Exempt staff negotiations
         Government negotiations
         Implementing Change
         Team building
         Dispute resolution
         Budgeting
         Compensation and severance
         Dealing with contractors
         Dealing with the press



Some of the positions I have held as trustee:
		 Board Chair
		 Vice Chair
		 Chair of Education Committee
		 Chair of Operations Committee
		 Chair of Personnel Committee
		 British Columbia School Trustees Association (provincial councilor)
         British Columbia Public School Employers Association (representative)
         Kitimat Amalgamation Negotiating Committee
         Labor Management Committee



        When I was first elected to the Kitimat board no.80 there was a lot
of labor unrest with 3 teachers strikes in a row (one before I was elected)
and exempt staff (non union) moral was low. When I first walked in as a
trustee the exempt staff did not trust me, fearing  what I would do because
I was also vice president of local 298 at Eurocan. with in 6 months their
attitude towards me had changed the, reason was simple; I fought hard for
the right of the union people and at the same time fought hard for the rights
of the exempt staff equally.

        In the 1990 election I came in last out of seven seats. Earning the
trust of the parents and voters in the 1993 election I got more votes than
all the other incumbents. With a change in direction, the new board started
team building. Though there was a lot of mistrust in all the groups the board
held fast to its plan to change the way the district did business. By
empowering all the groups the people became happier and they worked harder
with out being asked to. At one point, I had a union president ask me for
advice. Union members were working beyond the end of their shift with out
pay and the president could not stop them (I did not know how to reply.)

        Because of a reduction in the budget we had to make cuts, though we
had to lay people off we did it with sensitivity. The employees were
naturally upset but most felt they were treated fairly

                                Amalgamation

        In 1996 the government of the day legislated the a amalgamation of
the Kitimat and Terrace school districts. This was a shot gun wedding that
no one wanted.

The trustees had to negotiate all the terms for the new district and all the
over lap jobs had to be filled and severance negotiated with the displaced
employees. We also had to deal with 5 collective agreement and how to handle
all the over lapping clauses.

        Now amalgamation is behind us the board has embarked on an
administration review to see if we can restructure to gain further
efficiencies

A MEMBER OF