A trip earlier this year by employees with the Lambton Kent District School Board has prompted an audit of school boards across Ontario.
Premier Doug Ford learned of the January trip to Hawaii by LKDSB employees to attend an International Conference on Education in a CBC article. He said the government is now calling for an audit of discretionary spending at all public and Catholic school boards.
Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey said the LKDSB trip was the latest in a series of discoveries surrounding questionable spending at Ontario school boards, and the premier has had enough.
"He's asked the Minister of Education Jill Dunlop for an audit on all discretionary spending because this isn't the first one," said Bailey. "We didn't want to centre out Lambton-Kent but there's at least four other boards across the province that have done questionable spending on these trips. He's asking them to come forward, and if there's any other questionable spending to tell him about it."
When contacted by Sarnia News Today in September about recent international trips, the board said the Hawaii conference aligned with the Board Action Plan priorities, specifically Indigenous language revitalization, and was approved by the Indigenous Liaison Committee and met a specific purpose.
The board said four staff members attended, three unionized and the LKDSB Indigenous Lead, however details surrounding the cost of the trip were not disclosed.
Bailey said it's disappointing.
"The funding should be going to the classrooms, to the students and to the teachers," he said. "Especially with this trip to Hawaii. It's my understanding that the same thing could have been done online right here in Ontario, in Canada, without having to leave the country. That's what the real problem is and the real question."
The public school board also confirmed six unionized staff attended a conference in Las Vegas in May of 2023.
It said the conference related to implementation of Outcome Based Assessment being implemented in all Grade 9 and 10 classes and met a specific need.
Expenses for the trip were covered by Secondary and Student Success professional development budgets.
There are over 21,700 students that attend schools under the Lambton Kent District School board in Sarnia-Lambton and Chatham-Kent.