Premier wants audit of school boards in wake of trips

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SARNIA – An audit of Ontario school boards has been ordered by Premier Doug Ford following a report the Lambton Kent District school board spent more than $32,000 to send three employees to a conference in Hawaii.

“Parents expect school boards to be responsible stewards of public education dollars to prioritize student achievement,” Education Minister Jill Dunlop said in a statement Friday.

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“That is why we will also be examining audits of discretionary expenses and include them as part of the bi-annual review of board financials brought forward through legislation in Bill 98 last spring to create more accountability and transparency,” she said.

A report by CBC that the board spent about $32,000 for three members of its Indigenous education team to attend a conference in Hawaii Jan. 3 to 6 is the latest involving school boards in Southwestern Ontario paying for trips by staff and trustees.

“Hard-working taxpayers and parents deserve to know that the money the province is investing toward student education is going into the classroom,” Dunlop said.

The trip – taken by staff from the Chatham-based board’s Indigenous liaison committee – is one of several travel scandals that have irked taxpayers in communities across Southwestern Ontario over the past two months.

“I won’t use the vernacular to describe what I think of this spending fiasco that took place,” Sarnia-Lambton Progressive Conservative MPP Bob Bailey said of the Hawaii trip. “I’m very disappointed in the board, and the boards across the province.”

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Bailey said the Hawaii trip got the attention of Ford.

“Premier Ford said we’re calling for an audit of all the school boards, both public and Catholic, to see how they’re spending their money,” Bailey said. “If they’re going to be asking for more money and more dollars, education is important but the money’s got to be spent on students and on program spending.”

The Lambton Kent board has 66 elementary and secondary schools in Sarnia, Lambton County and Chatham-Kent. In a statement, officials defended the decision to send three employees to Hawaii.

“Attending this conference provided (board) Indigenous education staff with the invaluable, once-in-a-career opportunity to elevate their professional development and actively contribute to the ongoing growth and improvement of” the board, the statement said.

The board confirmed that three “front-line” staff from its Indigenous education team attended the January conference in Waikoloa, Hawaii, but didn’t confirm the cost.

Bailey questioned why the trip was needed at all.

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“They could have done the same thing on a Zoom call . . . for a heck of a lot less money,” he said. “We expect, as the government, that the money that’s going to these school boards will be spent on students, and teachers and programs. Not on expensive trips, getaways.”

The board said the trip was approved by senior administration and supported by an Indigenous liaison committee made up of the four First Nations – Aamjiwnaang, Delaware, Kettle and Stony Point and Walpole Island – with which the board works.

Expenses, including registration fees, travel expenses, accommodations and meals, were paid from the board’s funds for Indigenous education and professional development.

There have been three other recent cases of school board travel spending across Southwestern Ontario:

• The London-based Thames Valley District school board spent more than $38,000 on a three-day August retreat by 18 officials at the hotel inside the Toronto Blue Jays stadium. After it was uncovered by The Free Press, Education Minister Jill Dunlop announced an operational audit of the board, the education director took a paid leave and several other senior staff exited.
• This week, The Free Press reported the London District Catholic school board spent $16,000 on a one-night, two-day August meeting for 26 senior staffers in St. Catharines.
• The Brantford Expositor reported an art-buying trip to Italy by four trustees with the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District school board cost more than $50,000. It was later announced the trustees would repay expenses incurred by the board. Ontario’s Education Ministry has launched a governance review of the board.

pmorden@postmedia.com

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