Article content
The chair of the deficit-ridden Thames Valley District school board says she “welcomes the support” of Queen’s Park as the provincial government digs into its books following a travel scandal by administration and questions about executive pay.
Beth Mai made the comments on Tuesday night during the first meeting of the board since the school year began and since The Free Press uncovered details of a $39,000 three-day retreat by 18 board administrators to the Toronto Blue Jays stadium hotel.
Article content
“The board is committed to taking steps to ensure public accountability and trust in the system,” said Mai, the board chair, who didn’t detail a timeline for the Queen’s Park probe. “We have confidence that the support of our work will ensure the best allocation of the board’s resources for student achievement and wellbeing.”
Currently underway, the Ministry of Education’s sweeping audit will dive into the financial operations of Thames Valley, Ontario’s fourth-biggest board, as well as the executives’ compensation and their administration of the board, education ministry spokesperson Edyta McKay said earlier this month.
Mark Fisher, education director since 2019, went on paid leave earlier this month amid the fallout of the stadium retreat, which occurred amid deep cuts to jobs, school supplies and even money for kids’ field trips. The board is wrestling with a $7.6-million deficit on its roughly $1.2-billion budget.
Fisher made $326,000 as head of the board in 2023 – more than the $306,000 paid to the education director running Ontario’s biggest board, the Toronto District school board. Thames Valley also doled out double-digit increases in pay to 17 of its top brass last year, ranging from 12 to 33 per cent. Fisher’s increase was 15 per cent.
Article content
The exact details around Fisher’s leave of absence have not been disclosed by the board.
From Aug. 19 to Aug. 21, 18 board administrators stayed at the Marriott City Centre Hotel, formerly the SkyDome Hotel, located in the Blue Jays stadium. Rooms range from $374 to $1,199 a night, hotel staff say. The Jays were playing on all three dates, against Cincinnati.
Fisher initially defended the retreat as “an industry standard” akin to end-of-summer retreats Thames Valley had organized for the past 16 years.
The $7.6-million deficit has already been whittled down by $11 million with cuts. Jobs eliminated included 58 elementary-school and 24 high-school teaching positions, along with 17 early childhood educator jobs and four positions in speech and psychological services.
One education analyst has suggested that the board may may be placed under ongoing supervision following its operational audit. Debbie Kasman, a veteran educator who has worked for the education ministry, says that if that happens, “the board would be stripped of all power and a supervisor will be assigned to oversee financial decisions for a period of time.”
Thames Valley has 84,000 students at 160 schools across the London region. The board has more than 5,500 teachers and 5,000 occasional staff, and about 2,000 support staff.
Tuesday, Mai also introduced her colleagues to new interim education director Bill Tucker, who previously served in the role from 2013 to 2018, when he retired. He’s been brought in to helm the board amid Fisher’s leave.
Mail said Tucker “promotes a culture of excellence” and praised him for having “integrity, vision and communication that our staff and families expect.”
Share this article in your social network
