Brant school board caught in Doug Ford’s crosshairs as education minister considers eliminating trustees

A controversial and costly trip by four Catholic school board trustees is once again in the spotlight. CTV’s Spencer Turcotte explains why.

Premier Doug Ford said Ontarians are “done” with spending scandals, during an unrelated announcement near Caledon on Wednesday.

“There’s some good, and there’s some bad ones,” said Ford, referring to Ontario school boards on the province’s proverbial naughty list.

The Ministry of Education has been working to address ongoing cases of financial mismanagement.

“People are done with these school trustees wasting money, and they’re done with a lot of these school boards,” Ford said.

He mentioned one case in particular – a trip to Italy last year, taken by four trustees from the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board.

“School board trustees decided it’d be a great idea to fly to Italy, spend [about] $120,000 on their junket and their trip, have a great time in Italy and say it’s for Italian artwork and bring back $100,000 of Italian artwork,” the premier said.

In total, the trustees racked up a bill of nearly $190,000. They also splurged on luxury car rentals, high-end hotel stays and fancy dinners.

Education Minister Paul Calandra ordered a review of the school board, and for the amounts owing for the trustees’ travel expenses to be repaid fully within 30 days.

Three of the four trustees that went on the trip paid what was owed by the end of May. CTV News asked the school board and the province whether the fourth trustee, Mark Watson, fully settled his outstanding debts, but no response was provided.

“Last time I went to schools, it’s the kids’ paintings and everything else that are on the wall. Not $100,000 of Italian artwork,” said Ford.

Since that direction from Calandra, he has appointed supervisors to take over and make decisions for some of Ontario’s biggest school boards.

In an email to CTV News, the minister’s press secretary said the current school board governance structure is outdated and needs to be modernized.

The recent comments have Alan Campbell, the president of the Canadian School Boards Association, worried about the thought of getting rid of school board trustees.

“My initial reaction is one of grave concern,” said Campbell.

Campbell says having an education system centralized at Queen’s Park strips communities of their democratic voice and prevents schools from being responsive and representative of a community.

“It’s reckless and it’s irresponsible. The message needs to be to Minister Calandra that he needs to do away with this proposal. It’s catastrophic,” said Campbell.

Meanwhile, the premier is backing his education minister’s crackdown on school boards.

“We’re going to make sure they balance their books,” said Ford. “I know Minister Calandra is doing a phenomenal job.”