London Free Press

Premier wants audit of Ontario school boards amid slew of travel scandals: MPP

5 min read

SARNIA – An audit of Ontario school boards has been ordered by Premier Doug Ford following a report the Lambton Kent District school board spent more than $32,000 to send three employees to a conference in Hawaii, the local MPP says. The trip – taken by staff from the Chatham-based board’s Indigenous liaison committee – is one […]

London Free Press

School board travel scandals: Critic blasts ‘never-ending’ spending woes

5 min read

A raft of out-of-town – even overseas – trips by school board trustees or officials across Southwestern Ontario have rattled taxpayers and sparked deep reviews by Ontario’s education ministry. Two more cases became public in the past two days, and one long-time critic of the provincial education system believes it’s time for drastic changes. “I […]

London Free Press

London Catholic school board spent $16K on out-of-town staff meeting

3 min read

The London District Catholic school board is facing criticism for spending more than $16,000 on an out-of-town planning session for 26 senior staff members. Officials with the province’s fastest-growing Catholic school board, home to 27,500 students, released the figure to The Free Press following a freedom of information request. Here is the breakdown of the […]

London Free Press Sports

Parents fret as board eyes fix to high school swim team’s insurance impasse

3 min read

The lawyer representing the region’s largest school board says he’s confident one high school’s student swimmers who’ve been without a pool to train in will be back in the swim of things soon. Parents at Aylmer’s East Elgin secondary school have expressed concern that an insurance dispute between the province and the Thames Valley District […]

London Free Press

School board boss clamps down on executives’ spending after $38K retreat scandal

3 min read

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 […]