Days after kids return to class, Thames Valley school board director takes paid leave

The Thames Valley District school board’s education director is taking a paid leave of absence mother days into the new school year, the board chairperson announced Monday.

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Mark Fisher has been the top official at the London-area public school board since September 2019. In a statement Monday morning, trustee Beth Mai said that she and fellow trustees were to meet later in the day to appoint an acting director of education “who will be in place to provide leadership for the system” at this time.

“There are no changes to your reporting structures and school and district operations should continue as planned,” read Mai’s emailed statement to employees, a copy of which was seen by The Free Press.

Thames Valley, one of Ontario’s largest boards, is facing a budget deficit of $7.6 million that’s been whittled down by $11 million from cuts to jobs, school supplies and funding for field trips.

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Two weeks ago, The London Free Press reported that 18 board administrators attended a three-day retreat at the hotel inside the Toronto Blue Jays stadium, where rooms range from $374 to $1,199 per night, hotel staff say. The retreat was held from Aug. 19 to Aug. 21, and the Jays were playing at home on all three dates.

Board officials have refused to disclose exactly how much the retreat cost. But Fisher spoke in an interview about it, saying staff retreats are “an industry standard” for Ontario school boards and the Thames Valley board had organized annual pre-school-year retreats for the last 16 years.

A board official later said such trips “will not continue moving forward.” Mai said last week she and her fellow trustees take the matter “very seriously” and that they’re “committed to actions taken by the director, trustees and staff being consistent with the board’s policies and procedures.” The trustees were not involved in the stadium stay.

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Last week, a spokesperson for Ontario’s education ministry, Edyta McKay, told The Free Press that “school boards are expected to get funding into classrooms to increase supports for students and better equip teachers.”

McKay added: “That means showing parents, teachers and community members that the school board can be a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars – something this retreat has brought into question.”

In June, The Free Press detailed large year-over-year raises, some as much as 30 per cent, given in 2023 to top brass at the board. Fisher’s total income, for example, rose to $326,000 from $283,000, according to public-sector salary records.

Amid the recent budget cuts, there were 58 elementary-school and 24 high-school teaching positions cut along with 17 early childhood educator jobs and four positions in speech and psychological services.

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The board plans to reduce its special education budget by almost $1 million by using tablets instead of laptops and cutting spending on security by $300,000, budget documents state. Funding for school trips will be slashed in half to $500,000.

Funding will also be reduced for school budgets, printing and photocopying, textbooks and learning materials, as well as $2 million in cuts to instructional supplies.

Thames Valley is Ontario’s fourth-largest school board, with 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.

Fisher is a McGill University graduate who started teaching in the Toronto-area’s Durham District school board. He came to Thames Valley from the same board, where he was a superintendent.

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