Ontario has taken control of one school board over financial mismanagement, launched financial probes of three other boards and ordered a fifth board to repay costs for a trip to Italy to buy art, new Education Minister Paul Calandra said Wednesday.
The province said it will increase accountability and transparency measures to address "failures" at several school boards while serving notice to all boards that money needs to be prioritized to help students succeed and provide teachers with the resources they need.
"Some school boards treat hard-earned tax dollars like their own, spending them on luxury hotels, fine dining and first-class travel overseas, and booking extravagant retreats for meetings while accepting test results that in some cases show students struggling," Calandra said.