Catholic trustees travel to Italy to by $100,000 worth of artwork for new high school

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Four local Catholic school board trustees travelled to Italy earlier this year to purchase $100,000 worth of artwork for a new high school under construction in Brantford.

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Rick Petrella, chair of the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board, said installation of the religious art pieces is part of the plan to make the new St. Padre Pio Secondary a “flagship” school for the board.

The artwork, which includes life-sized, hand-painted wooden statues of St. Padre Pio and the Virgin Mary, a large crucifix, and sculptures depicting the 14 Stations of the Cross, will be put in the chapel at the new high school, which will open in September 2026 on Powerline Road.

Also purchased on a trip to South Tyrol on the northern tip of Italy was a bust of Pope Francis, which will be installed at the new Pope Francis Elementary School, set to open in September 2025 in Caledonia.

Petrella said he personally bought a new hand-carved crucifix for the boardroom at the school board office on Fairview Drive and donated an outdoor statue for the courtyard of St. Padre Pio, with a combined value of about $6,800.

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Four trustees, including Petrella, Dan Dignard, Bill Chopp and Mark Watson, travelled to South Tyrol, an area known for producing religious art since the 1500s, for a week in July to meet with artisans and commission the artwork. Area artisans supply works to the Pope, and to monasteries, hospitals and other facilities.

The trip cost $45,000, including airfare, accommodation and food.

“We wanted to do some kind of sculpture,” said Petrella during a recent interview. “We looked at buying it off the shelf, but nothing stood out.”

Petrella said he began researching art in South Tyrol and had some email exchanges and Zoom calls with artisans there.

“It soon became apparent that we were spending a decent amount of money and needed to do our due diligence,” said Petrella. “The sculptors invited us to their studio to show us their work. It allowed us to finalize the design and have something tangible. We saw the carvers bring the wood to life.

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“There is no way the board would hand over a penny without seeing it in person. It’s a lot of money and we wanted to make sure we were getting value for the money.”

Petrella said the board was able to “negotiate better pricing due to the volume of items we were purchasing.”

He said the school board’s positive financial standing was a factor in making the decision to travel to Europe and buy the “one-of-a-kind” artworks.

“Through many years of sound fiscal planning and record surpluses our board is in a position that allows us to reinvest in our schools by increasing teachers, support staff and capital projects in our schools, while we maintain a balanced budget.”

The board’s $180-million operating budget for 2024-2025 includes an accumulated surplus of $33 million.

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Funding for the artwork came from surplus. Money for the trip to Italy for the four trustees, who spent a few days with the artisans and time visiting local parishes, came from “trustee honoraria and expenses,” a bucket of funding generally used for travel and other trustee-related expenses.

Petrella said normally all trustees attend the annual meeting of the Canadian Catholic Trustees Association at a cost of about $18,000. Only Dignard attended this year’s event held in Calgary from May 30 to June 1. Petrella said that extra money was directed to the Italy trip.

“Everyone who went (to Italy) is directly tied to this and all needed to be part of the planning,” said Petrella. “It wasn’t a vacation. It was fully in line with the trustee expense policy.”

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The Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board has six trustees. Dignard, Petrella and Chopp represent Brantford and Watson represents Haldimand. The two Norfolk trustees, Dennis Blake and Carol Luciani, didn’t travel to Italy.

Petrella said he brought plans for the artwork to the St. Padre Pio Chapel Catholicity Committee in April. A single paragraph in the meeting minutes says the meeting took place to “share concepts and finalize design of the statues from an Italian sculptor.”

Petrella said the committee, a spin-off of the larger faith advisory committee, has various sub committees. Representing the new secondary school are Petrella, Dignard, Chopp and various staff members.

Purchase of the art and the cost for the trip to Italy didn’t require the approval of the full school board, said Petrella.

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“The reason was mainly due to the dollar amount being small in relationship to the larger project, and the fact that those dollars are enveloped as part of the bigger budget approval process, which is approved by the board annually. All trustees were fully aware of the plans in respect to this when they voted on the larger board budget. Once dollars are allocated in the broader budget, they can be accessed throughout the budget year for items such as this.”

The $46-million St. Padre Pio Catholic Secondary School will have capacity for about 1,400 students. Petrella said it will not only have a strong academic and arts side, but a state-of-the-art athletic field with astroturf and a large wing dedicated to teaching students about skilled trades.

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“We haven’t built a high school in 30 years,” said Petrella. “In the mind of trustees, this will be the flagship school of the board. We are going all in on this new Catholic high school. We’re very proud of it.”

The spending of other school boards, including the cash-strapped Thames Valley District school board in London, has recently come under scrutiny. That board spent nearly $40,000 to send 18 administrators on a three-day retreat in August at the Toronto Blue Jays stadium hotel amid a $7.6-million budget deficit that has prompted deep cuts, including to funding for kids’ field trips.

Petrella said the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board’s financial position allows it “to invest and do things maybe some other boards can’t.”

“I understand how people may see it,” he said of the expenses related to the artwork. “If we weren’t in a strong fiscal position we wouldn’t do it.

“I would hope Catholic ratepayers would understand and support the great things we’re doing. We’re trying to make this a great centre of learning.”

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