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The region’s largest school board has introduced a new screening process for staff seeking professional development activities in the wake of a Toronto travel scandal that led to a large-scale provincial audit.
The Thames Valley District school board came under fire 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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“People are still permitted to go to professional development opportunities, however all requests have to come through my office,” said Bill Tucker, interim education director at the Thames Valley board.
Every expense for professional development has “has to align with policy,” he said.
“I am screening every request as an intention to minimize expenses but I am not prohibiting professional development opportunities,” Tucker said.
From Aug. 19-21, 18 administrators with the debt-ridden school board travelled first class by train to attend a three-day retreat at the former SkyDome hotel. The Jays were playing on all three dates, against Cincinnati.
Here’s the breakdown of the retreat costs:
- Travel: $5,500
- Accommodations: $20,000
- Meeting rooms and meals: $13,000
The board is burdened with a $7.6-million deficit in its roughly $1.2-billion budget.
Since news of the retreat was made public, Mark Fisher, education director since 2019, went on paid leave in early September.
Soon after, associate director Linda Nicholls also went on a leave of absence.
Both communications director Cheryl Weedmark and the board’s superintendent of human resources, Katie Osborne, left their jobs.
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Soon after, Ontario’s education minister announced a sweeping audit of the Thames Valley board’s executive operations, which was welcomed by both board chair Beth Mai and the board’s unions.
The 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 officials have said.
Compensation for 17 of the board’s top brass increased by double digits in 2023, ranging from 12 to 33 per cent. Fisher’s increase was 15 per cent.
“We are pleased that the ministry is looking at this, not because we want to point the finger, but because there are some profound changes that need to be made,” said Craig Smith, president of the Thames Valley local of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario. “Every dollar that comes in to the school board is a public dollar. It is incumbent on both the board and the ministry to ensure that everything is in order.”
Earlier this month, the board said it had recouped the $38,000 spent on the retreat from senior staff members’ expense accounts.
“They all voluntarily repaid the $38,000 from those accounts into a fund,” Tucker said at the time. “I have been looking for a way to return that money to kids.”
Tucker said he can’t say how much senior staff have in their accounts for professional development expenses due to privacy issues.
The money recoupled will go to a learn-to-swim program for pupils, Tucker said.
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