Parking prank stirs TVDSB staff concerns

The education director for TVDSB has issued an apology for an April Fools joke that didn't land well with some staff members. CTV London's Gerry Dewan reports.

The Interim Education Director of the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) has issued an apology for an April Fools joke that didn’t land well with some staff members.

Bill Tucker circulated an internal email early Tuesday morning reporting that teachers would be charged for parking. In the email, distributed just before 8 a.m., Tucker writes, “As you know, we are still wrestling with a $16 million deficit and are exploring ways to, not only find cost reductions, but initiate strategies to gain income.”

He then outlines a plan that would charge staff members $10 per week for parking. The fee would be retroactive to Sept. 1, 2024.

In the April Fools email, Tucker writes, “It was calculated that would generate an income of approximately $5.6 million dollars per school year and would quickly eliminate the Board’s operating deficit.”

The email continues, “In the meantime, we will be deducting from your April pay a total of $320 dollars which represents parking fees from September 1st of this school year up to the end of this month.”

It closes with the line, “With appreciation for your understanding,” and is signed, “Bill.”

The email was sent with the TVDSB logo attached.

Just before 9 a.m., a follow-up email was sent by Tucker’s Senior Executive Assistant Sherry Hines.

That email reads, “Hello everyone: April fools…” and closed with, “Thank you, Sherry.”

CTV News reached out to Bill Tucker, and he said at that time he had received hundreds of responses, and the majority were positive, and people enjoyed the joke. He did admit that about a dozen expressed concerns.

Tucker subsequently sent another email at around 11:30 a.m. In that dispatch, he wrote, “I want to apologize to those who felt angst at the message I sent out this morning. It was never my intention to cause distress.”

He continued, “Rather, we have been faced with a cascade of heavy information related to our financial situation and I was simply trying to create some smiles across our system.”

He closed that email with, “Hoping you have a great day. Bill.”