School board brass should repay some stadium hotel retreat costs: Critic

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Critics are blasting an “incredibly disappointing” move by administrators at the region’s largest school board to spend nearly $40,000 on a Toronto ballpark hotel retreat, with one taxpayer advocate calling on the staff to pay back part of the expense.  

Following a request from elected trustees, the Thames Valley District school board revealed Thursday it spent $38,444.92 to send 18 senior administrators to an out-of-town retreat in August, a move that has sparked outrage from union leaders, parents and the public.  

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“Taxpayers are left shaking their heads,” said Jay Goldberg, Ontario director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.  

“This professional development retreat could have been done in London. If they’re making the decision to go to Toronto, for no reason, I think these individuals should have to reimburse the difference.”   

The $38,444.92 bill for the downtown Toronto retreat includes $5,468.09 for travel expenses, $19,778.02 for accommodations at the Marriott City Centre hotel, the former Skydome hotel, and $13,198.81 for meeting rooms and meals. 

The board’s education director, Mark Fisher, began a paid leave of absence earlier this week. The reason for Fisher’s leave of absence was not disclosed. Bill Tucker, a former Thames Valley education director, was appointed to the top spot in the interim. 

In a statement Friday, Thames Valley said the decision on the out-of-town retreat for administrators rested with Fisher and not the board of trustees.

“The booking of the off-site planning meeting for the senior team to prepare for the school year’s operations fall within the purview and approval of the director,” the board said in a statement.

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“The director is responsible for making specific expenditure decisions. It is not in the scope of the board’s authority to be involved in operations and is confident in interim director Tucker’s experience and knowledge to ensure that this will not happen again.”

Thames Valley said Friday that Tucker “has begun reviewing expenses to ensure compliance with policies, procedures.”

Travel by leaders in publicly funded institutions should never be a behind-the-scenes administrative call and should have gone to the elected school board of trustees for review and approval, Goldberg said.  

This type of “egregious” spending by the school board, which comes at a time when many Canadians are feeling the pressure of inflation and other rising costs, is damaging to public faith in taxpayer-funded institutions, Goldberg said. 

“There needs to be better oversight of this type of spending. Situations like this continue to increase distrust of our leaders, and that’s not something anyone wants to see,” he said. 

The Free Press reported earlier this month that 18 board administrators attended a three-day retreat at the hotel inside Rogers Centre, the Toronto Blue Jays stadium. The professional development trip, held Aug. 19 to 21, coincided with three Jays home games. 

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The retreat comes at a time when the board, one of Ontario’s largest, is facing a $7.6-million budget deficit that was reduced by $11 million through cuts to jobs, including 82 teaching positions, and school supplies. The cash-strapped board also slashed money for student field trips in half to $500,000. 

Thames Valley’s annual budget is approximately $1.2 billion. 

Ontario New Democrat education critic Chandra Pasma said Thames Valley’s decision to send 18 administrators on an out-of-town retreat was “unacceptable.”

“To know that a school board was spending money on a trip to the Rogers Centre is just incredibly disappointing,” Pasma said Friday. “We are seeing our schools across the province strapped for resources, front-line staff and the supplies that kids need.”  

The provincial government has the power to exercise more oversight over school boards, but has instead largely left boards to their own devices, Pasma said. 

“This is a failure to use the powers that they already have,” she said, adding proper funding for education in Ontario has not been a priority of the government. 

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“If they cared about resources in classrooms and front-line staff, there’s a lot that they could do, and making sure that money isn’t going to expensive retreats is one of them.” 

A request for comment from Ontario’s education minister on the Thames Valley retreat was unavailable Friday.

jbieman@postmedia.com 

Did you know? 

The $38,444.92 total for the retreat could have covered… 

• Field trip admission to Museum London or the Fanshawe Pioneer Village for 4,805 students. 

• The wage of an educational assistant for 1,538 hours, or about nine months of full-time work.  

• The wage of a Thames Valley custodian for approximately 1,400 hours.  

• About 79,800 pencils or nearly 9,500 notebooks at retail price.  

• The cost of renaming a Thames Valley school. 

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