Education Minister Jill Dunlop said a 'management audit' will examine compensation of executives at the Thames Valley District School Board in London, Ont., and their administration of the board.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
The Ontario government will audit the financial operations of a southwestern Ontario school board amid revelations that senior staff spent nearly $40,000 on a three-day planning retreat last month that included a hotel stay inside the Rogers Centre baseball stadium.
In a statement on Friday evening, Education Minister Jill Dunlop said that the “management audit” will also examine compensation of executives at the Thames Valley District School Board in London, Ont., and their administration of the board.
Ms. Dunlop said government funding to school boards should flow into classrooms to help students and equip teachers. “That means showing parents, teachers and community members that they are responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars. This is just common sense,” she said.
The Thames Valley school board has been mired in controversy and faced increasing pressure in recent days to release details of a retreat in Toronto that was attended by education director Mark Fisher and 17 senior staff.
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Earlier this week, the board said that Mr. Fisher was on a paid leave of absence, and a former director would serve in the interim.
News of the retreat in Toronto followed recent cuts made by the board to staff positions and school supplies as it worked to trim its budget deficit.
Board chair Beth Mai released details of the Toronto retreat on social media late Thursday afternoon. It included travel costs of $5,468.09, $19,778.02 for accommodations over two nights, and $13,198.81 for meeting rooms and meals.
The group stayed at the Toronto Marriott City Centre Hotel, which is located inside the Rogers Centre. The retreat was held from Aug. 19 to Aug. 21, and the Blue Jays were playing at home on all three dates.
It’s not unusual for senior staff to hold planning sessions before the school year begins. However, the expenses come at a time when school boards across the province, including Thames Valley, have been making cuts to balance their budgets.
Ms. Mai said on Friday evening that the board welcomed the government’s support through an audit of accounts.
She said off-site meetings would be reviewed more closely going forward. The board was also making changes to expense policies and procedures so they were more cost-effective, she said.
“We have work to do. I would say that there’s concern and valid concern publicly around this expense, and we need to make sure that anything going forward is done appropriately,” Ms. Mai said in an interview earlier in the day on Friday.
What remains unclear is how the retreat went ahead without being flagged earlier. The trip was booked in February and the penalty to cancel the retreat would have been 90 per cent of those costs, Ms. Mai said, adding that she learned in late August that it was being held in Toronto.
She said that the retreat expenses were under the purview of the director to determine if it was a “fiscally responsible decision and in the best interests of the needs of the organization, as well as our responsibilities to be effective stewards.”
The Globe and Mail was unable to reach Mr. Fisher on Friday for comment.
Craig Smith, president of the Thames Valley local of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, said on Friday that the retreat was indicative of a wider issue facing the board, “which is one of potentially a culture of entitlement and superiority.”
He said that, if the board was set on making cuts to balance its budget, senior administrator should have led by example.
“People wouldn’t begrudge a team getting together to do some planning if it was done in a way that was perceived to be mindful and modest. That is the piece that’s missing in this particular aspect of this latest event,” he said.