Two senior officials exit in Thames Valley District school board shake-up

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Two senior administration positions are vacant after a staffing shakeup at the Thames Valley District school board, which is facing a $7.6-million budget deficit and an operational audit led by Queen’s Park.

Both communications director Cheryl Weedmark and the board’s superintendent of human resources, Katie Osborne, have left the organization, according to a staff memo from interim education director Bill Tucker, a copy of which was obtained by The Free Press.

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Osborne’s duties in human resources will be taken over by Lynn Griffith-Jones, who will vacate her family of schools superintendency position.

In the memo to staff, Tucker said the school board is “deeply appreciative” of the work of Weedmark and Osborne. In a Tuesday morning interview, Tucker declined to detail the nature of their departures.

There’s been plenty of upheaval in the executive ranks of Thames Valley, Ontario’s fourth-biggest school board. Earlier this year two senior administrators left for jobs with other Southwestern Ontario school systems:

Riley Culhane was formerly second-in-command as one of two associate directors at Thames Valley. He moved to the Seaforth-based Avon Maitland District school board in a new role as superintendent. Tracy Langelaan was a Thames Valley superintendent who left for a similar position at the London District Catholic school board.

The board was then plunged into controversy in late August when The Free Press uncovered a three-day retreat by 18 administrators at the Toronto Blue Jays stadium hotel. Board officials later said the total cost was more than $38,000.

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Mark Fisher, who had been the board’s education director since 2019, went on a paid leave days after the school year started. The nature of that leave hasn’t been made public.

Queen’s Park has launched a management audit of the school board’s financial operations and executive compensation.

Tucker, a former education director with the board, has returned to the helm on an interim basis. In the Tuesday interview, he said he and Beth Mai, chair of the board of trustees, are working toward restoring public faith in the school board and “getting money back into schools.”

The school board’s $7.6-million budget shortfall was already slashed by $11 million earlier this year through cuts that included 58 elementary-school and 24 high-school teaching positions, along with 17 early childhood educator jobs and four positions in speech and psychological service.

The board also slashed by half the money for student field trips, now down to $500,000 annually.

With an annual budget of roughly $1.2 billion, Thames Valley has 30 high schools and 154 elementary schools spread across the London region.

HRivers@postmedia.com

@HeatheratLFP

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