First calls for audit of school boards following Hawaii trip

Premier Doug Ford called for an audit of Ontario school boards following a report the Lambton Kent District School Board sent three employees to a conference in Hawaii in January.

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“Parents expect school boards to be responsible stewards of public education dollars to prioritize student achievement,” Education Minister Jill Dunlop said in a statement.

“That is why we will also be examining audits of discretionary expenses and include them as part of the bi-annual review of board financials brought forward through legislation in Bill 98 last spring to create more accountability and transparency,” she said.

A report by CBC that the board spent about $32,000 for three members of its Indigenous education team to attend a conference in Hawaii Jan. 3 to 6 is the latest involving school boards in Southwestern Ontario paying for trips by staff and trustees.

“Hard working taxpayers and parents deserve to know that the money the province is investing toward student education is going into the classroom,” Dunlop said.

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“I won’t use the vernacular to describe what I think of this spending fiasco that took place,” Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey said. “I’m very disappointed in the board, and the boards across the province.”

“Premier Ford said we’re calling for an audit of all the school boards, both public and Catholic, to see how they’re spending their money,” Bailey said.

“If they’re going to be asking for more money, . . . education is important but the money’s got to be spent on students and on program spending.”

In a statement Thursday, the Lambton Kent board defended its decision to send the employees to Hawaii.

“Attending this conference provided LKDSB Indigenous education staff with the invaluable, once in a career opportunity to elevate their professional development and actively contribute to the ongoing growth and improvement of” the board, the statement said.

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The board confirmed that three “front-line” staff from its Indigenous education team attended the conference in January at Waikoloa, Hawaii, but didn’t confirm the cost reported by the CBC.

“They could have done the same thing on a Zoom call. . . for a heck of a lot less money,” Bailey said.

“We expect, as the government, that the money that’s going to these school boards will be spent on students, and teachers and programs,” he said. “Not on expensive trips, getaways.”

The board said the trip was approved by senior administration and supported by an Indigenous liaison committee made up of the four First Nations — Aamjiwnaang, Delaware, Kettle and Stony Point and Walpole Island — with which board works in partnership.

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Expenses, including registration fees, travel expenses, accommodations and meals, were paid from the board’s action plan funds for Indigenous education and professional development related to Indigenous education.

Postmedia reported the Thames Valley District school board spent about $38,000 on a trip by board administrators to the hotel inside the Toronto Blue Jays stadium. Following that, the board’s education director went on a paid leave, other senior staff members exited and Ontario’s education minister, Jill Dunlop, announced an operational audit of the board.

The London District Catholic school board spent $16,000 on a one-night, two-day meeting for 26 senior staffers in August.

The Brantford Expositor reported an art-buying trip to Italy by four trustees with the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District school board at a cost of about $50,000. It was later announced the trustees would pay back expenses to the board. Ontario’s Education Ministry launched a governance review of the board.

With files by Heather Rivers of the London Free Press

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