Four trustees at an Ontario Catholic school board have apologized for travelling to Italy over the summer to purchase $100,000 worth of artwork for a new school. Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board (BHNCDSB) Chair Rick Petrella said to Global News on Thursday the trustees are sorry about taking the trip that is being investigated by Education Ontario. “We recognize that the optics and actions of this trip were not favourable, and although it was undertaken in good faith to promote our Catholic identity and to do something special for our two new schools, we acknowledge that it was not the best course of action,” said Petrella to Global News. “We take responsibility and ownership for this and are committed to addressing and remedying the situation.”In response, Petrella said all of the BHNCDSB trustees who participated in the trip will repay all of the expenses incurred by it. The BHNCDSB came under fire on Tuesday after the Brantford Expositor revealed four trustees went on a $45,000 trip to Italy for one week in July to buy $100,000 in artwork for a high school being built in Brantford. This high school will open in September 2026. Petrella said to the Brantford Expositor the artwork includes life-sized, hand-painted wooden statues of St. Padre Pio and the Virgin Mary and was part of its plan to have the high school become a flagship institution for it. In addition to this artwork, the trustees bought a bust of Pope Francis for an elementary school scheduled to open in Caledonia in September. Petrella said he bought a hand-carved crucifix for its boardroom at the board office and gave an outdoor statue for the high school’s courtyard. Although the trip had been costly, he said funding from the artwork came from its $33 million surplus, and the trip was covered by the general allocation used for trustee travel and expenses. Because the budget for the artwork and trip was small compared to the $46 million cost for the high school, he confirmed BHNCDSB approval was not required. Ontario Education Minister Jill Dunlop ripped into the BHNCDSB. “Our government increased public education funding to historic levels to support student achievement and better equip teachers in the classrooms, not to expense trips on public dollars by school board staff,” said Dunlop to Global News.“In this instance, the BHNCDSB not only failed students and parents but the community with a serious lack of fiscal responsibility and judgment.”While a sizeable amount of money had been spent, Dunlop said school boards “are expected to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars — whether in a deficit or surplus situation.” She added she takes this issue seriously and has asked Education Ontario to investigate the matter. The trustees travelled to South Tyrol, which has been known for producing religious art since the 1500s. In the past, artists in South Tyrol have supplied art to the Pope. While he had been researching art in South Tyrol and was talking to artists, he said the trustees felt they had to do their due diligence because they were going to spend a sizeable amount of money on it. Because of the volume it intended to buy, he acknowledged it was able to negotiate better prices. To cover the costs of the statues that had been commissioned, he said it is exploring other non-board funding options. Since it wants to do better, he said it has decided to spend more money to support student needs. This means enhancing health and safety deescalation training for teachers and support staff and improving its school breakfast programs. Trustees will begin going through expense policies to ensure they comply with the Ontario government’s Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive. Petrella concluded by saying the trustees “deeply regret the events that have taken place, and I want to personally assure everyone that such incidents will not occur again.”“We are committed to providing the highest quality educational experience for our community and to continuing our longstanding tradition of sound fiscal management, ensuring that our board remains one of the best in the province,” he said. Canadian Taxpayers Federation Ontario Director Jay Goldberg said in an interview with the Western Standard taxpayers should never be on the hook for school board trustees going to Italy. “I think it’s outrageous they tried to bill taxpayers to go on some sort of excursion to try to find art,” said Goldberg. “I mean we shouldn’t be paying frankly any school board trustees to travel outside the country, so I’m glad to see they’ve apologized.” Of course, Goldberg said the refund is critical to ensure taxpayers are not on the hook for this trip. This is because they are struggling to make ends meet.
Four trustees at an Ontario Catholic school board have apologized for travelling to Italy over the summer to purchase $100,000 worth of artwork for a new school. Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board (BHNCDSB) Chair Rick Petrella said to Global News on Thursday the trustees are sorry about taking the trip that is being investigated by Education Ontario. “We recognize that the optics and actions of this trip were not favourable, and although it was undertaken in good faith to promote our Catholic identity and to do something special for our two new schools, we acknowledge that it was not the best course of action,” said Petrella to Global News. “We take responsibility and ownership for this and are committed to addressing and remedying the situation.”In response, Petrella said all of the BHNCDSB trustees who participated in the trip will repay all of the expenses incurred by it. The BHNCDSB came under fire on Tuesday after the Brantford Expositor revealed four trustees went on a $45,000 trip to Italy for one week in July to buy $100,000 in artwork for a high school being built in Brantford. This high school will open in September 2026. Petrella said to the Brantford Expositor the artwork includes life-sized, hand-painted wooden statues of St. Padre Pio and the Virgin Mary and was part of its plan to have the high school become a flagship institution for it. In addition to this artwork, the trustees bought a bust of Pope Francis for an elementary school scheduled to open in Caledonia in September. Petrella said he bought a hand-carved crucifix for its boardroom at the board office and gave an outdoor statue for the high school’s courtyard. Although the trip had been costly, he said funding from the artwork came from its $33 million surplus, and the trip was covered by the general allocation used for trustee travel and expenses. Because the budget for the artwork and trip was small compared to the $46 million cost for the high school, he confirmed BHNCDSB approval was not required. Ontario Education Minister Jill Dunlop ripped into the BHNCDSB. “Our government increased public education funding to historic levels to support student achievement and better equip teachers in the classrooms, not to expense trips on public dollars by school board staff,” said Dunlop to Global News.“In this instance, the BHNCDSB not only failed students and parents but the community with a serious lack of fiscal responsibility and judgment.”While a sizeable amount of money had been spent, Dunlop said school boards “are expected to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars — whether in a deficit or surplus situation.” She added she takes this issue seriously and has asked Education Ontario to investigate the matter. The trustees travelled to South Tyrol, which has been known for producing religious art since the 1500s. In the past, artists in South Tyrol have supplied art to the Pope. While he had been researching art in South Tyrol and was talking to artists, he said the trustees felt they had to do their due diligence because they were going to spend a sizeable amount of money on it. Because of the volume it intended to buy, he acknowledged it was able to negotiate better prices. To cover the costs of the statues that had been commissioned, he said it is exploring other non-board funding options. Since it wants to do better, he said it has decided to spend more money to support student needs. This means enhancing health and safety deescalation training for teachers and support staff and improving its school breakfast programs. Trustees will begin going through expense policies to ensure they comply with the Ontario government’s Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive. Petrella concluded by saying the trustees “deeply regret the events that have taken place, and I want to personally assure everyone that such incidents will not occur again.”“We are committed to providing the highest quality educational experience for our community and to continuing our longstanding tradition of sound fiscal management, ensuring that our board remains one of the best in the province,” he said. Canadian Taxpayers Federation Ontario Director Jay Goldberg said in an interview with the Western Standard taxpayers should never be on the hook for school board trustees going to Italy. “I think it’s outrageous they tried to bill taxpayers to go on some sort of excursion to try to find art,” said Goldberg. “I mean we shouldn’t be paying frankly any school board trustees to travel outside the country, so I’m glad to see they’ve apologized.” Of course, Goldberg said the refund is critical to ensure taxpayers are not on the hook for this trip. This is because they are struggling to make ends meet.
