Ontario School Board to Be Audited After Spending Close to $40,000 for Staff Retreat

Ontario Minister of Education Jill Dunlop in a file photo. The Canadian Press/Steve Russell-Pool

An Ontario school board will be audited by the province after spending nearly $40,000 on a three-day retreat.

Ontario Minister of Education Jill Dunlop announced the audit on Sept. 13, which will look into the Thames Valley District School Board’s (TVDSB) financial operations, the executive members’ compensation, and the administration of the board.

Dunlop noted that the board is operating in a deficit, and said provincial funding to school boards should go to help students and teachers. She added that the boards should show “parents, teachers and community members that they are responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.”

The retreat for 18 senior staff members, held last month, included a hotel stay inside the Rogers Centre baseball stadium.

TVDSB released details of the retreat expenses on Sept. 12. The total costs were $5,468.09 for travel, $19,778.02 for accommodations, and $13,198.81 for meeting rooms and meals, TVDSB chair Beth Mai said, for a total of $38,444.92.

TVDSB, located in London, said that the hotel and meeting spaces had been booked in February. A penalty for cancelling the booking was 90 percent of the cost, according to a Sept. 12 joint statement from TVDSB chair Beth Mai and Interim Director Bill Tucker.

The school board passed a motion in June about reviewing expenses for TVDSB events, it said in the statement. The motion stated that all professional development opportunities would need to be reviewed to ensure “cost effectiveness” and alignment with the board’s strategic plan, according to TVDSB.

After the minister’s announcement, TVDSB chair Mai said in a Sept. 14 statement that the board welcomes the audit of accounts.

“The Board has every confidence that Interim Director Bill Tucker will share the work that he is leading at the Board’s direction around accountability and transparency to the community as we prioritize student achievement and well-being,” she said.

Tucker took over earlier in the week, on Sept. 10, a day after it was announced that director of education Mark Fisher would be taking a leave of absence. No reason was given for Fisher’s decision.

Tucker is a former director of education for TVDSB, having served from 2008 until he retired in 2013.