Education Council

General presentations

• 1104364 – Nursery school calendars 2011-2012

  A letter dated 22 May 2011 from the head teacher of Stekkjarás nursery was presented, requesting to move the planning day from 17 November 2011 to 14 October 2011 due to a planned training and familiarisation trip for staff. The approval of the nursery's parents' council is also presented.

  Agreed.;

• 1104350 – School meetings 2011

  Response to the outcomes of school meetings on the implementation of the 2011 financial plan.

  Will be posted on the town's website and the processing will be completed before the next meeting.;

• 1106012 – Model timetable for primary schools

  The primary school development officer presents the process for the approval of benchmark timetables for individual primary schools.

  The process was approved and the matter will continue at the next meeting. The parent representative of nursery children left the meeting.;

• 1009201 – Education Department Budget 2011

  A four-month report from the education department was presented.

  Gudmundur Sverrisson, Operations Manager of the School Office, attended this item and went over the matters.;

• 11021352 – Annual accounts, audit 2010 - second reading.

  Review the variance analysis for the 2010 annual accounts for the education department.

  Operations Manager of the School Office, Guðmundur Sverrisson, attended this item and went over the matters.

  The representative of primary school teachers, the representative of nursery school staff and the representative of parents of primary school children left the meeting.

  The representatives of the Independence Party wish to record:
  
  With the annual accounts of the City of Hafnarfjörður for the past year, 2010, it is now confirmed that the financial targets for the operation of education in Hafnarfjörður for the year have not been met, and the result in that one area alone is approximately 820 million króna worse than planned. 
  
  Staff and management have, through diligence and resourcefulness, in many cases succeeded in meeting their targets in a difficult situation, Elsewhere, there is still room for improvement, but the largest part of the deficit is the so-called „unspecified efficiencies“ of the Social Democratic Alliance majority, which in its last budget before the local elections promised an improved outcome, without taking responsibility for how this would be achieved.  The new coalition of the Social Democrats and the Left-wing Greens is now delivering a financial result that is a far cry from what was promised.
  
  We, the representatives of the Independence Party, express our disappointment with this outcome, which confirms our warnings of recent months.  In light of the direction things were heading, we have pushed for the operations of the council's departments to be reviewed and audited monthly this year, so that action can be taken as soon as necessary.  This cost-cutting has got off to a slower start than we would have liked, and we call on the majority to take action to rectify this, so that our shared goal of improved financial performance for the council's operations can be achieved.
  
  Kristinn Andersen
  Halldóra Björk Jónsdóttir

  The representatives of the Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Party on the Education Committee refer to the minutes of the town council from the approval of the annual accounts on 1st. June, where deviations from the original budget are reviewed. That minutes also state that the 2010 budget was not revised as has usually been the case.;