There is still no information on the status of a third-party probe into alleged misconduct at the Thames Valley District school board Nov 18, 2025 • Last updated Nov 18, 2025 • Thames Valley District school board in London. (Mike Hensen/The ) There is still no information on the status of a third-party investigation into alleged misconduct at the top level of management at the troubled Thames Valley District school board. This has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Trustees launched the investigation in the fall of 2024 following a controversial three-day retreat that led to the departure of several high-ranking administrators, including the board’s education director and associate director. A spokesperson for the board told the he doesn’t “have any update on that report, unfortunately.” The board is being run by a supervisor appointed by the province in April. Thames Valley trustees hired KPMG to do an audit “after receiving information that raised concerns,” Middlesex trustee Christian Sachs said. “We did our job to get answers – but it seems those answers got lost somewhere between completion and control,” she said. Sachs said she and other trustees haven’t seen the results of the KPMG audit. This has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. “Accountability shouldn’t be optional,” she said. Under the supervision order by the Education Ministry, the board’s trustees can no longer make decisions for the board. Trustees have lost access to their board email accounts. Regular board meetings and most committee meetings have been cancelled. In August 2024, The Free Press reported that18 board administrators attended a three-day retreat at the hotel inside Rogers Centre, the Toronto Blue Jays stadium, where hotel staff say rooms range from $374 to $1,199 a night. The retreat was held from Aug. 19 to Aug. 21, and the Jays were playing at home on all three dates. The trip occurred while the board had a $7.6-million deficit in its 2024-25 budget. That shortfall had been slashed two months earlier through the elimination of 124 positions, a 50 per cent reduction in funding for school trips and textbooks, and other cuts. This has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Mark Fisher, the board’s top administrator since 2019, initially defended the trip, saying back-to-school retreats for board officials are industry standard across Ontario. Fisher and associate director Linda Nicholls were put on paid leave in September 2024. The board said in early March Fisher had resigned and Nicholls was no longer a board employee but didn’t provide any details about her departure. Nicholls said in court affidavit filed April 23 she was terminated with cause on March 3. In the fallout from the Toronto retreat, Ontario’s Education Ministry announced it would audit the board’s financial operations, executives’ compensation and their administration of the board. The ministry hired PriceWaterhouse Coopers LLP to conduct the investigation. This has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The province released an executive summary of the company’s probe in April and a full report the following month. The audit uncovered several compensation infractions including promotion of two senior employees without the approval of trustees, prohibited COVID stipends of up to nearly $24,000 and excessive pay for several employees, the final report said. A lack of financial oversight in the budgeting process led to a “deteriorating financial position” at the board, the report said. The board had a projected deficit for the 2024-25 school year of $16.8 million, the report said. Increased staff absences, over-projections in enrolment and increased spending on technology and cybersecurity initiatives were identified by investigators as “key drivers” of the deficit. This has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Investigators found five instances of non-compliance with the board’s compensation frameworks and two instances of non-compliance with the board’s policies and procedures, the report said. “There are also indications of potential financial mismanagement,” the report said. PriceWaterhouse Coopers said a more detailed report about the board will be released at a future date. But that report has not yet seen the light of day. Officials at the Education Ministry did not respond to requests for an update on that report or whether that report is a separate entity from the KPMG report. HRivers Share this article in your social network Source link
