The 2013-2014 student trustees at the Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board nearly doubled their expense budget.
The annual report shows $10,579 was spent on accommodations, milage and other expenses. Their annual honourarium was just $5,397.
Director of Education Paul Picard says the students were required to attend OSTA conferences in Toronto and Ottawa.
"They had some executive responsibilities for trustees at the provincial level that were not funded, so for that reason we went over," says Picard, adding student trustees can be too eager to experience politics. "Certainly they get this political view around the table, but they also want to be engaged with other trustees throughout the province and provincially. Sometimes their exuberance overdoes it."
School board trustees came in under the $30,600 budget for expenses, spending $21,944. The expenses are covered by the school year from the beginning September 2013 to the end of August 2014.