Education Minister Mike Bernier has issued the following statement on the audit report on the Vancouver school board:

“I am deeply concerned about the troubling allegations about trustees and toxicity at the Vancouver school board raised in a letter from the BC School Superintendents Association. The entire senior staff is now reported to have gone on medical leave over the span of a week. This Monday, the board reversed its decision of the previous week to proceed with consultations on school closures.

“As you are aware, special advisor Peter Milburn was due to table his report on the Vancouver school board tomorrow. Given what has happened over the past week, I am extending the deadline on the special advisor’s report by two weeks. This extension is for technical reasons so that the report can correctly reflect the changing nature of the situation.

“As well, during the course of the audit of the Vancouver school board launched on July 18, the audit team has reviewed a very large volume of records obtained from staff throughout the VSB and from the trustees. Today the deputy minister of Education wrote to WorkSafeBC to ensure they are aware that this process had taken place, and let them know that the special advisor would be available to speak with them as part of their investigation at the Vancouver school board.”

Peter Milburn was appointed July 18, as a special advisor to lead the forensic audit and full review of the Vancouver school board. The initial deadline for Milburn’s audit report was Sept. 30, and that was previously extended at his request to Oct. 7.