Dear BHNCDSB Catholic Community,
The Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District Sch,ool Board has been the subject of scrutiny this past week related to trustee travel and for the commissioning of Catholic Sculptures for St. Padre Pio Catholic Secondary School and Pope Francis Catholic Elementary School.
The details of this are public, and as we have stated publicly, we deeply regret the events that have taken place. We wish to reiterate to everyone that this was undertaken in good faith, with good intentions, and for the promotion of our Catholicity, but mistakes were made.
Having said that, I want to personally assure everyone that such incidents will not occur again. We recognize that we let you down and we take full responsibility and ownership for this and are committed to making things right.
With that said, each trustee involved including myself are taking concrete actions to address the expenses incurred to the Board, including personal repayment.
In respect to the cost of the statues commissioned, I have been in discussions with several Catholic donors recently who are very interested in assisting in covering these costs. I am actively working with them to secure their donations and remove any financial obligations of public dollars for this expense.
Our goal with these actions stated above is to get to a total net zero cost position for the Board and for the ratepayer for these expenses.
We have already taken steps to rewrite our Trustee expense policy, ensuring that it is fully aligning with the Ontario Broader Public Sector Expense Directive. We are actively working to schedule a policy committee meeting this week to accelerate the ratification process and implement the new fully compliant policy as quickly as possible.
We hope these initial concrete steps will set us on the path to restoring your trust and confidence in us.
We have heard the concerns of our parents, students, and staff, about gaps for student needs and we are making a commitment to review at revised budget what additional supports can be allocated and implemented to meet those needs.
With respect to the Ministry of Education announcement, the BHNCDSB will fully cooperate with that process.
We deeply regret the events that have transpired and are committed to working together as a Board to regain your trust and confidence. Our Board is committed to providing the highest quality Catholic educational experience for our students, the community, and continuing our longstanding tradition of sound fiscal management, student achievement and ensuring that our board remains one of the best in the province.
Sincerely,
Rick Petrella, Chair of the Board
