The president of the Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) teacher’s union, Heidi Yetman, is speaking out about a scandal that has shaken the English-language school board this fall.
After months of closed door discussions by the council of commissioners at LBPSB over ethical breaches by an unnamed commissioner, its chair Suanne Stein Day confirmed she was at the centre of the controversy on Nov. 28.
Following the revelation, education minister Sébastien Proulx announced an independent audit of the school board.
The minister also announced he would ask the province’s anti-corruption squad, to investigate the school board’s International Department.
In a blog post on the LBPSB teacher’s union website, Yetman wrote:
“I’ve always mistrusted the International Program. Before being elected as the president of PTU, I had attended many Education Policies Committee meetings and I had asked: How much money does the International Program make? Where is all the money?”
“Why aren’t the teachers getting the support they need? Why aren’t these students getting any English second language classes? My questions were never answered.”
Yetman added: “Last year, there were over 1000 International students in the vocational and youth sectors. I was able to obtain a copy of a letter for a student enrolled in a two-year vocational program and the tuition fees were $23,000 plus $1,600 in insurance fees. You do the math! This program has never been transparent and the school board has a lot of explaining to do.”
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