Controversial Blue Jays stadium trip for TVDSB leaders cost nearly $40K
CBC
Officials at the Thames Valley District School Board say a trip to Toronto for a planning retreat for 18 administrators cost $38,445, a total that covers stays at an expensive hotel located inside the Rogers Centre baseball stadium.
The board released the information late Thursday afternoon, saying the total also includes other trip expenses such as transportation, meeting spaces and food.
The booking was made in February and the penalty to cancel the retreat was 90 per cent of those costs, the board said.
A joint statement by board Chair Beth Mai and the school board's interim director Bill Tucker said the incident was a "learning experience" and will not happen again.
"I recognize that there's been a hit to public confidence in our board," Mai said in an interview with CBC News on Thursday evening. "We're committed to doing what's necessary to ensure that we have the public's confidence going forward."
Thursday's cost disclosure is the latest development in the fallout over the trip, which sent 18 staffers to the retreat despite the board facing a $7.6 million budget deficit — while teachers faced shortages of classroom supplies.
The retreat from Aug. 19 - 21 saw leadership travel to Toronto and stay in the Marriott City Centre Hotel located inside the Rogers Centre.
Mai said it was always the plan to release information about how much the trip cost, but the information, including how much individual staff members paid for transportation or spent on per diem, needed to be gathered first.
Mark Fisher, the board's director of education, took a leave of absence last week amid blowback over the trip. Mai refused comment on the reasons for Fishers's leave, citing privacy concerns. However, sources previously told CBC News his leave is directly related to the trip and its fallout.
Tucker was named as Fisher's interim replacement.
In a post to social media site X, Mai referred to the Toronto trip as "Director Fisher's decision."
"He would be the one making the decision that the trip was happening and ultimately he would be giving the go ahead," she told CBC News.
Mai said moving forward, Tucker will personally review all future expenses to ensure they comply with a policy passed in June that says all trips "must be reviewed to ensure cost effectiveness and alignment with TVDSB's strategic plan."
The joint statement issued Thursday made a similar promise.
