Unions push for full cost of school board retreat at Blue Jays stadium hotel

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A union representing early childhood educators at the Thames Valley District school board says taxpayers have the right to know exactly how much was spent on a retreat for senior executives at the former SkyDome hotel in Toronto amid a $7.6-million budget deficit.

Among other positions, 17 early educator positions were axed at the Thames Valley board during 2024-25 budget deliberations in June.

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“I believe the public has a right to know the cost of the retreat, especially considering CUPE members are being told there is no more money in their budget to have school supplies for the needs of students when school starts up,” said Mary Henry, president of CUPE Local 4222 that also represents secretaries and educational assistants.

“The school board is a public service using taxpayers’ dollars.”

Thames Valley officials were asked twice by The Free Press to provide the full cost of the retreat for 18 senior staff members that took place Aug. 19-21. They have not responded.

Now known as the Marriott City Centre Hotel, located inside the baseball stadium, rooms cost $374 to $1,199 a night, according to hotel staff. The rooms had views of the playing field, and the Blue Jays were home on all three dates, against Cincinnati.

Craig Smith, president of the Thames Valley local of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, said taxpayers have the right to know how much money was spent on the Toronto retreat.

“At the end of the day, it’s public money,” he said. “That’s one level of accountability and it has to be there.”

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Education director Mark Fisher defended the retreat in a Free Press interview on Monday, saying it is “an industry standard” for all Ontario school boards and the board had organized annual pre-school-year retreats for the last 16 years.

“Virtually every school board in the province does the same thing . . . in anticipation of many of the new initiatives that are being brought in this year,” Fisher said Monday.

Board chair Beth Mai did not reply to a request for comment, nor did any other trustees.

The London District Catholic school board also did not immediately respond to a request for information on whether its senior staff attended an out-of-region retreat.

In June, Thames Valley trustees approved the board’s 2024 budget with a $7.6-million budget deficit. Trustees whittled down the deficit from an initial shortfall of $30 million, blaming Queen’s Park for underfunding the board.

“The problem we’re trying to solve is we have a delinquent ministry who doesn’t understand the funding needs of the board,” London trustee Sheri Polhill said at the time.

The province requires school boards to prepare balanced budgets. A board is allowed to have a one per cent deficit if it has a surplus able to cover it.

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Fifty-eight elementary school and 24 high school teaching positions were eliminated in the $1.2-billion budget for the 2024-25 school year approved by trustees. The board also cut four positions in speech and psychological services.

The board plans to reduce its special education budget by almost $1 million by using tablets instead of laptops and cutting spending on security by $300,000.

The $1 million earmarked for school field trips also was cut in half.

Other categories targeted for reductions include school budgets, printing and photocopying, textbooks and learning materials, as well as $2 million in cuts to instructional supplies.

In June, trustees decided against using professional development funds to send more trustees to a Toronto conference.

London trustee Lori-Ann Pizzolato said she was against spending any more professional development cash – even though there is $13,000 left in the fund – due “to where we are at with our deficit” at that point.

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“I think we optically need to show we are cutting back as well,” she said. “I know these were last year’s funds, but I think we all need to contribute (to reducing the deficit). I wish we could send people.”

Only four trustees went to the 2024 Canadian School Boards’ Association’s national trustees’ gathering on Indigenous education in Toronto from July 3-5.

Trustee also didn’t approve accessing $745 in funds earmarked for governance.

hrivers@postmedia.com

@HeatheratLFP

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