The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

4- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday November 8, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Next session starts November 24th Catholic trustees must provide more detailed reports on expenses By Tina Depko OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The Halton Catholic District School Board has voted in favour of being more accountable when it comes to expenses for trustees and employees. The move comes as a result of a report called Enhancing Public Trust and Confidence released in May by Norbert Hartmann, a provincial advisor to the Ministry of Education. The report criticized misspending practices by Toronto Catholic District School Board trustees and made recommendations for revising trustee expense policies. The Ministry of Education followed up on the report by asking members of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association to review their policies and make further improvements to improve accountability and transparency. Oakville trustee Alice Anne LeMay, who represents the Halton board on the association, called on John Langill, superintendent of education, school services/policy and procedures, to draft a revised expenses policy. "The minister said that based on that report, she wanted us to go over our policies again, and most boards had changed them, but she wanted us to tighten them up," Langill said. "We did meet the legislation and what the minister said, but we added some guidelines." The board amalgamated its three policies, including trustee expenses, employee expenses and mileage expenses, into one policy in April 2008 following a prior mandate from the Ministry of Education. Many checks and balances were already in place, according to Langill, but he said he worked with LeMay to make further improvements. The most significant change to the policy is the request that trustees and employees, which encompasses any staff who may need to purchase something while on board business, provide detailed accounts of what they are spending money on when it comes to expenses and why. "We're asking people to be a lot more specific," said Langill. "They were writing things on the back (of the receipts) like `meeting with parent' and they would submit a receipt. The receipt was for lunch and we need to know the reason for the meeting and who the parent was. That wasn't clear in our policy. A lot of the trustees and staff were not being specific enough." Trustees with the Halton Catholic board are currently allowed to claim up to $3,000 in expenses. Limits vary for other staff based on position and school budgets. Trustees, as well as more senior staff members, such as principals, are given board policy cards, which are credit cards, for their expenses. "That is what we are told and that is the preferred method," Langill said. "It's basically a Visa card that has a person's name on it that's tied to their budget for their particular department. It is a lot easier for everybody, for our accounting purposes and transparency, that when we get a statement, you can match up items quite easily." The other two additions to the policy were more or less in practice already, but are now cemented in policy, Langill said. The first addition is that when paying with the board purchasing card, both the signed customer copy and the itemized bill must be submitted. "We were doing it as a practice, but it was never put in the policy," he said. "We didn't have it in there, so I guess we didn't really enforce it. But now we do, because we don't want anything See Board page 5 Refer a friend and save! CABINET REFACING AFTER Safe Start: Beginner Driver Education CLASSROOM 25 hrs in-class Evenings & Weekends Small class sizes Use of interactive tools to keep students engaged - 6 hrs simulation - Adverse Weather effects - Risk free environment - Focused on highway, urban & city driving SIMULATION BEFORE We can transform your existing cabinets with new doors andlaminate in your choice of style & colour. Select complimentary hardware & have the kitchen of your dreams. - 10 hrs private in-car lessons - Flexible scheduling & pick up - Professional & Skilled Instructors IN-CAR LESSON No Payments, No Interest for 6 Months O.A.C. Visit our showroom or call for your FREE In Home Consultation Come visit us at Oakville Place November 12-16 me Call today Call Register! to today to register! For course information: www.drivewiseoakville.com info@drivewiseoakville.com 905.845.7200 1313 1313 Speers Road, Oakville · · 905-847-8964 Oakville 1-888-232-1363 Mon.-Fri. 9am-5pm, Sat. 10am-4pm www.granitetransformations.ca Mon. - Fri. 9am-5pm,Sat. 10am-4pm www.granitetransformations.ca