Ontario focusing province-wide school board audits on ‘frivolous’ trip spending

The Ford government is shifting the absorption of bi-annual audits it plans to enforce connected schoolhouse boards crossed the state to see a circumstantial look astatine the discretionary spending of elder figures similar trustees aft a fig of arguable trips raised the ire of the premier.

For weeks, schoolhouse boards person been nether aggravated scrutiny for charging the costs of overseas trips and an excursion to a Toronto Blue Jays to taxpayers.

In the Brantford area, trustees expensed $45,000 on a travel to Italy wherever they spent astir $100,000 connected artwork. A London, Ont., schoolhouse committee spent astir $40,000 on a retreat to the Blue Jays stadium hotel and different southwestern Ontario committee spent $32,00, according to CBC, sending 3 unit to a league successful Hawaii.

“I was arsenic shocked arsenic you are, being a caller curate of acquisition and this landing connected my table week aft week,” Education Minister Jill Dunlop told Alex Pearson on AM 640, which is besides owned by Global News’ parent, Corus Entertainment.

“I announced yesterday arsenic good that I would beryllium gathering with the directors of acquisition and having a precise frank discussion, earlier we leap into these audits, that this would beryllium the clip to travel guardant and fto america cognize if determination is thing questionable that has been going connected with discretionary spending.”

Last spring, the authorities passed a caller acquisition law, the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, which introduced a not-yet-enacted program to audit schoolhouse boards regularly.

That plan, according to the government, had primitively been to absorption connected schoolhouse committee spending mostly to springiness parents an thought of however nationalist funds are being allocated. The flurry of controversies has present pushed the authorities to adhd a circumstantial absorption connected discretionary spending to those audits.

“We volition besides beryllium examining discretionary expenses arsenic portion of the bi-annual audits brought guardant done legislation,” the Ministry of Education said successful a statement.

The authorities has not finalized the audit process yet, nor has it decided whether the bi-annual fiscal inspections volition beryllium funded by Queen’s Park oregon section schoolhouse boards.

“Regardless of if there’s a shortage successful oregon a surplus, this is wealth to beryllium spent successful the schoolroom and not connected these frivolous trips,” Dunlop said.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford had likewise blasted the schoolhouse boards recovered to person expensed assorted trips — calling the spending “unacceptable” astatine an unrelated lawsuit successful October.

“The stories spell connected and connected and connected — that’s wherefore I’ve directed our curate of acquisition to commencement doing audits of these schoolhouse boards,” helium said connected Oct. 25.

“We’re pouring wealth into schoolhouse boards and they’re retired partying and acting similar a clump of yahoos.”