Ontario school board trustees will pay back expenses from $145,000 Italy trip

The chair of an Ontario Catholic school board says he and other trustees will repay expenses from a summer trip to Italy where they used public funds to buy $100,000 worth of religious statues and sculptures for a new high school that is being built.The Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board in Brantford has come under scrutiny amid revelations that four trustees reportedly expensed $45,000 for their July trip to northern Italy, where they purchased artwork that included life-sized wooden statues of St. Padre Pio and the Virgin Mary.Earlier in the week, Ontario Education Minister Jill Dunlop criticized the board and said it “not only failed students and parents, but the community with a serious lack of fiscal responsibility and judgment.”