How new Hanwell school shot up the priority rankings a puzzle to auditor general
CBC News | Posted: October 20, 2020 2:25 PM | Last Updated: October 20, 2020
Decisions not based on evidence or public interest, but politics may have had role, says Kim Adair-MacPherson
A new school project in the education minister's riding shot from 43rd to first on the list of education capital spending priorities, says Auditor General Kim Adair-MacPherson.
The Hanwell K-8 school project was one of 15 her office examined for a new report.
The report found "successive governments have made decisions that are not always evidence-based or objective."
Adair-MacPherson did not specifically accuse anyone of making the decisions for political reasons, but in response to a reporter's question she acknowledged that's what seems to be happening.
It's "hard to precisely say" what factors are influencing the decisions, she said.
"It just needs to be improved."
Cardy says he didn't interfere
Dominic Cardy rejected the idea that any political interference on school capital spending decisions has taken place during his time as education minister.
"I stand firm against politicization of the public service in any respect," he said.
He accused the auditor general of making "accusations that have no basis in fact" and "spreading information that is bluntly incorrect."
He said there were "narrative flourishes" in her report that aren't connected to reality.
He suggested Adair-MacPherson had made "errors based around feeling."
The auditor general noted there are about 300 schools around the province and their average age is 45 years.
For the past several years, the education department has been using a system called QBL — quadruple bottom line — to rank capital project priorities.
Originally, said Adair-MacPherson, the QBL process included a lot of consultation and collaboration at the district and school levels.
Then decisions started happening "within the confines of the officials within the department," she said.
That coincided with the Hanwell project's ascent to number three on the list of priority projects province wide.
Then another "tiering process" happened within the department, said the auditor, by which it moved to the top priority.
"It was the one project put forward for a new school build in that year ... and then eventually approved."
The rationale, she said, was mainly based on space and capacity issues.
Not the only place with space problem
But those issues were prevalent in several other places across the province.
At the time, nine schools were using six or more modular classrooms.
"There is definitely a space capacity issue in the need for Hanwell. But was it the highest priority need? And that's what we did not get the evidence to be able to conclude."
Meanwhile, another school project in Moncton to replace Hillcrest and Bessborough Schools was put off.
"It was approved and just getting started. And then we had a government change. And that school was at the time not proceeded with. And instead you see Hanwell being approved. These are the types of things that just don't make sense from an asset management perspective."
A "tiering process" within the department was also used in a previous year, said Adair-MacPherson, for the purchase of land for École de Moncton.
It was 15th in the QBL ranking and still ended up on top.
A Grand Bay-area school project was improperly ranked, she said.
And the Premier's Office approved a Woodstock High School auditorium project outside the normal process.
Cardy said he had nothing to do with the decision to go ahead with the Hanwell school project, or the two school projects in Moncton that have been in the works during his time as minister, other than putting his signature on documents.
Hanwell decision concerned minister
"Given my tendency to be willing to put principles above political reality on a routine basis, imagine my reaction on hearing that this was actually going to be the number one recommendation," he said.
"I had to push back against people — colleagues in cabinet, saying, outside of cabinet conversations that, 'OK, you can't say that we shouldn't build a school in Hanwell just because it's in your constituency. That itself would be political interference,' which is true. So I did not interfere in any way."
Cardy said he has distanced himself from decisions about "which schools should be built, where they should be placed and what they should be named … every step of the way."
But the projects have to be prioritized at the department level, he said, because each of the seven districts has its own priority.
Cardy challenged the idea that school districts have been shut out of the process.
"Show me the evidence," he said.
"School districts are consulted on a regular basis by people in the department at every level on these projects...the recommendations on projects come from the [district education councils]."
The introduction of the QBL process, he said, was "a strong step" away from political interference.
"I've done my absolute best to make sure that the minister, the minister's team, in terms of the political appointees in the office, have absolutely no involvement whatsoever in the process."
Made changes in process
Cardy acknowledged, however, that he asked for some changes to the QBL process when he became minister, "to include, for example, a stronger consideration of neighbourhoods in poverty — that one neighbourhood wasn't necessarily the same as another."
"Another minister may well come in and make some changes as well."
"Those changes are all public and accountable to the public" and "part of a process of permanent improvement."
The auditor general pointed out the government has to make the most of limited funds available for school capital spending.
"Each and every dollar has to go to the highest need. ... Each time you build a new school, it's a 30 to 40 million dollar capital spend decision and it takes away from the deferred maintenance needs of roughly 300 schools."
About $287.7 million worth of maintenance is needed, she said.
Shutdowns possible without maintenance
If that work is not funded, standards will have to be lowered or schools shut down.
Adair-MacPherson noted that the three schools in the province that were built as public-private partnerships get roughly $3 million a year for maintenance and the other 290 share only about $18 to $20 million.
"That in itself tells you that there's problems on the horizon if these long term asset management principles are not put in place."
Based on the department's responses to the concerns she's flagged so far, Adair-MacPherson said she's not optimistic her recommendations will be followed.
Despite his harsh words, Cardy also said the auditor general's report made some solid recommendations.
He said his department has already implemented six of them.