Statues depicting Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) are seen outside a shop in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, March 17, 2018.TONY GENTILE/Reuters
Four trustees at an Ontario Catholic school board spent about $28,000 in public funds on airfare and $1,600 for a dinner while on a trip to Italy this summer to buy religious artwork for a new high school that is being built.
The new details on expenses of trustees at the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board in Brantford were released in response to an access to information request by The Globe and Mail.
The board has faced widespread criticism since revelations last month that four of the board’s six trustees, including chair Rick Petrella, spent $50,000 for a week-long July trip to northern Italy, where they also purchased artwork, including life-sized wooden statues of St. Padre Pio and the Virgin Mary.
The board said the artwork cost $72,000. Most of the artwork was intended to be housed at St. Padre Pio Catholic Secondary School, a new Brantford high school that will open in September, 2026.
The details of the expenses were not known because the board did not release them despite repeated media requests. Only recently have the trustees said they would repay the expenses.
Education Minister Jill Dunlop has criticized the board on its fiscal responsibility. Her ministry is conducting a governance review in light of the expenses controversy.
Trustees loosened their expenses policy a month before the trip, which allowed them to fly business class “or higher” if travelling outside North America and if the trip was more than six hours. It also allowed for upgraded hotel rooms and, in some situations, alcohol.
The four trustees expensed about $31,500 on transportation, according to the list of expenses. That included about $28,000 in flights and $2,100 for a car rental, along with costs associated with taxis, tolls, parking and fuel.
They also expensed almost $16,000 in lodging, with about $8,100 for hotels in Italy and $7,800 for hotels in Munich.
Food expenses was about $2,400. One dinner bill for all four trustees cost $1,600. Alcohol, which was included in the meal totals, was $515.10.
Board spokesperson Tracey Austin did not respond to questions on the upgrades to flights or the hotels in Munich and Italy.
The school board also provided a list of only six meals from July 7 to 14 as part of the access to information request. It did not respond to a question on costs related to other meals on the trip.
“The involved trustees have agreed to a payment schedule and all expenses will be repaid,” Ms. Austin said in an e-mail. “We have no further comment on this matter.”
Mr. Petrella, the chair, has not responded to e-mails asking why the expenses policy was altered before the trip or provide details on the expenses to Italy.
Last month, he said in an e-mail statement that trustees would repay the expenses. He also indicated that he would explore non-board funding options to offset the costs of the artwork.
After much criticism, trustees changed their expenses policy at a special board meeting last week. Under the revised policy, they can no longer expense alcohol, upgrade hotel rooms or travel outside of North America without the approval of the Minister of Education.
Ms. Dunlop’s spokesperson, Edyta McKay, has said that the governance review will examine discretionary expenses across the board.
“We expect every school board to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars that prioritizes student achievement, whether in a deficit or surplus situation,” she said last week.
This incident in Brantford marked the second time in this academic year that the province had to step in and review school board expenses.
In September, Ms. Dunlop ordered an audit of the financial operations of the Thames Valley District School Board in London after revelations that senior staff spent nearly $40,000 on a three-day planning retreat that included a hotel stay inside the Rogers Centre baseball stadium. The Blue Jays were playing at home during their stay.
The board’s education director was put on a paid leave of absence, and a former director is serving in the interim.