Toronto district school board needs to clean up its act

Elizabeth Moyer, Toronto District School Board’s audit committee chair.

The students may eventually mature but, sadly, the adult antics never seem to end at the Toronto District School Board.

The most recent example (remember last year’s $143 pencil sharpener installation?) is the trustee-generated request for a provincial spending audit of former director Chris Spence and the board’s Focus on Youth summer camp program for at-risk kids.

While the school board’s audit committee chair, Elizabeth Moyer, and several other committee members allege some sort of fiscal malfeasance, the motivation for the audit of the camp program is becoming increasingly murky. And that’s why this sorry saga could be another waste of education dollars — as much as $450,000, to be exact. (Imagine how that tidy sum could help the TDSB music programs that seem to always be in danger.)

Sure, Ontario’s ministry of education must proceed with an investigation of Spence’s spending, months after he resigned in a plagiarism scandal. But it’s far from clear that there’s any need for an expensive investigation into the Focus on Youth program.  (more...)

Toronto district school board needs to clean up its act