Part 10 in a 11-part blog series looking at questionable expenses of several government employees, as revealed by CTF Freedom of Information requests.

The Vancouver School Board have become pros at whining about a lack of funding from the provincial government – including a $7.5 million shortfall this year. Two of their top employees made some big bucks: Superintendent Steve Cardwell (left) made $205,396 (and added $13,243 in expenses), while deputy superintendent Jordan Tinney earned $183,991 (plus $15,152 in expenses) in 2011/12. So we filed an FOI request for those expenses.

Interestingly, we got a memo back from the Secretary-Treasurer noting that Tinney, previously the Superintendent of Comox Valley School District, was promised a $22,725 moving allowance to relocate to Vancouver. While working on the Mainland, Tinney decided not to move, instead striking a deal to allocate that $22,725 allowance toward travel costs. Tinney spent $7,573.20 in travel expenses while working with the School Board – but when he left the District in 2012, he paid that money back. That’s the good news – the bad news is that a cash strapped school district was offering a $22,725 moving allowance in the first place.

Cardwell, meanwhile, charged taxpayers $2,041.93 in Simon Fraser University tuition fees so he could take a Graduate Studies class. On the other end of the cost spectrum, Cardwell also expensed a $20 flu shot.

Leave us a comment with your thoughts on these expenses.