$28 giant cookie among charges expensed by school trustees before new guidelines passed

CTV Toronto: School board spending scrutinized An internal audit of Toronto school board trustees shows the public paid for flights, hotels and at least one parking ticket.

A giant cookie, a laptop and a smartphone are among the charges uncovered in an audit of Toronto school trustees that may have sparked a review of expenditure guidelines in May.

New guidelines were passed on May 14 that set the expense budget cap for Toronto District School Board trustees at $27,000 per year.

The guidelines were released after an Ernst and Young confidential audit of TDSB trustees last year, which CTV Toronto recently obtained through an access-to-information request.

Following the audit, the school board has been working to implement all recommendations, the Ontario education minister said in a statement on Monday.

"It is my expectation that the TDSB is meeting these requirements and we will continue to work with the board to support this effort."

The new guidelines serve as general recommendations for expense claims, after the audit highlighted several questionable reimbursements.

The claims ranged from food and small gifts to trips overseas, all outlined in the audit.

The audit looked at the claims of TDSB trustees from 2010 to January 2014.

Chris Bolton, who was the TDSB chair at the time, spent $28 on a giant cookie at Toronto's Westin Prince hotel during a meeting with former TDSB director of education Chris Spence. In the audit, Bolton said he had no idea about the cookie.

"I didn't have any," he wrote. Bolton was also reimbursed by the board for a $658 cellphone he bought while visiting Hong Kong. Bolton also claimed a tablet computer for $489.

Sheila Ward spent approximately $300 on coast guard tours and $400 on food in San Francisco. Ward was there for a conference, but the tour and extra food costs were charged after the conference ended.

Gerri Gershon charged the TDSB for a 320-kilometre round trip from her Muskoka cottage to downtown Toronto. In the audit, she wrote that she didn't want to attend the downtown meeting, but had no choice.

Gershon also claimed a $3,700 trip to Israel, when she was part of an "interfaith delegation." She said it was important to her work as trustee.

John Hastings claimed two hotel rooms on the same day, in Vancouver and Calgary. He said he spent the night of July 7 in the Vancouver room, and he used other for a few hours while waiting for his flight from Calgary to Toronto.

Hastings also claimed a $205 oil sands chartered air tour, and said it was related to the high school curriculum.

Howard Kaplan spent $20 on lotion and nuts, which he claimed as a meeting expense. When the audit was conducted, Kaplan said he wasn't sure why the expenses were claimed, and that he'd repay the board.

Kaplan was in San Francisco for a conference, but charged the board for two extra nights in the city after the event was over.

Mari Rutka spent $1,771 on an iMac Air laptop. In the audit, she wrote that she was having technical problems with her Dell computer so she needed a new one. She chose an Apple product, rather than a cheaper model from a different company, because it was lighter. She said her previous computer was too heavy for her to carry around.

Sam Sotiropoulos bought two Sony cameras for approximately $350 each, but he said one of those purchases was made after a camera was stolen. He also said he uses a camera to document his ward and trustee activities.

Sotiropoulos spent $12,724 in postage.

Stephanie Payne spent $4,000 in courier expenses, compared to the $300 average. Most of the courier expenses were for newsletters.

In addition to the specific claims, some general themes were present in the audit. Several trustees were cited as spending hundreds of dollars on long-distance charges for phone calls made to Toronto from vacation spots like Barbados, the Netherlands, St. Lucia, Greece and Mexico City.

Trustees also spent money on gifts for guest speakers, PTA members and other associates. Gifts ranged from a Tony Bennett CD to $50 in flowers.

Trustee Irene Atkinson said she's hired guest speakers who charge $1,000 per hour, but added that she doesn't claim cellphone and other expenses that her colleagues list.

Despite living in Toronto, four trustees claimed hotel rooms at the Sheraton Centre downtown during a conference. Elizabeth Moyer, Shelley Laskin, Gerri Gershon and David Smith all stayed at the Queen Street hotel.

The new 2014 guidelines say that accommodation expenses within the GTA will generally not be covered.

They also say: