TDSB to tighten spending oversight after audit results

TDSB chair Chris Bolton

The Toronto District School Board has pledged to tighten its oversight of provincially funded programs for students outside the classroom, after an audit revealed lax procedures for overseeing spending.

The forensic audit, commissioned by Education Minister Liz Sandals, revealed the school board may not have followed provincial rules by using some funds to help balance its books. The Ernst & Young LLP audit also said financial reports submitted to the province for an employment program for at-risk youth were not approved by the school board’s chief financial officer.

The program is Focus on Youth, the same one that provided funding to a charity founded by TDSB chair Chris Bolton. The Globe and Mail has reported that the Friends of Community Schools received $56,000 to run a summer camp for 225 students in 2009.

Howard Goodman, a TDSB trustee and member of the audit committee, said Ernst & Young’s findings released in December clearly show that accountability has been circumvented at Canada’s largest school board.  (more...)

TDSB to tighten spending oversight after audit results

H/T to Socialist Studies... more on conflicts of interest:

Toronto District School Board donated thousands to charity set up by chair

Conflict Of Interest Scandal #2

Toronto TDSB Chair Chris Bolton says he has no conflict of interest in ties to children’s charity