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Mike Bernier is pictured at the B.C. Legislature in Victoria on July 30, 2015.CHAD HIPOLITO/The Globe and Mail

A special adviser's report says there has been a "manifest lack of fiscal planning" at the Vancouver School Board and recommends a strategic review of real estate assets, including the Kingsgate Mall.

That mall – on a former school site owned by the school district – could generate millions for the board, says the review, written by former deputy finance minister Peter Milburn and released Friday.

Mr. Milburn also criticized the hands-on approach of former trustees, saying it put pressure on senior management, some of whom are now on medical leave.

"The Board of Trustees at the VSB is taking an unusual and ineffective approach in the depth and nature of their interaction with the operation of the Vancouver School District," the report said.

"This approach is interfering with management's ability to effectively run and operate the organization. It is also causing an unsustainable amount of stress on members of VSB management."

The report offers more details about the inner workings of the Vancouver School Board as it dealt with a list of contentious issues, including balancing its budget, seismic upgrades for schools and potential school closings, as well as allegations of workplace bullying.

Education Minister Mike Bernier cited the report when he fired the entire board earlier this month, though the province waited nearly two weeks to make it public.

On Friday, Mr. Bernier said the report underscored his concerns about stability, financial management and governance at the board – and showed former trustees failed to follow recommendations made in previous reviews.

"There have been multiple reviews and audits done, with recommendations in the past," Mr. Bernier said Friday on a conference call with reporters. "One of the things highlighted here is that those recommendations in past audits and reviews, for the most part, weren't followed through with."

Former trustee Patti Bacchus, who was fired along with eight other elected trustees in October, said the reports contained little new information from similar reviews in 2010 and 2015 and ignored the broader issue of provincial education funding.

The notion of selling the Kingsgate mall is shortsighted, Ms. Bacchus said. The mall currently generates about $750,000 a year in lease income and, earlier this year, the board had been talking to the lease-holder about potentially redeveloping the site, she said.

"Selling off your capital to fund your operating shortfall is a pretty short-sighted way to manage an organization," she said.

A business proposal from the provincial government to sell the Kingsgate Mall lands would have secured $5.6-million, the new report said.

That sale – along with other measures, such as "modernizing" collective agreements – could generate more than enough income to bridge a current shortfall in the 2017-2018 budget, currently estimated at $14.9-million, the report says.

The VSB spends about $500-million a year, with about 90 per cent of that in staff costs.

Mr. Bernier announced the audit on June 30, citing the board's failure to approve a balanced budget.

Under the provincial School Act, boards are required to pass a balanced budget by June 30 of each year.

The former board in April voted against a proposed balanced budget for the 2016-2017 school year, saying the cuts it contained were too deep.

Earlier this month, the board reconsidered and said it was prepared to pass the budget. On the same day the board was to meet to hold that vote, however, Mr. Bernier fired the trustees and appointed Dianne Turner as sole superintendent of the board.

Peter Milburn, a former deputy minister of finance, was appointed July 18 to lead the investigation, which had an original deadline of Sept. 30. That was extended after a former trustee filed a privacy complaint in relation to the report and after allegations related to "toxicity" in the VSB workplace became public.

WorkSafeBC is now investigating those allegations.

Mr. Milburn was paid about $50,000 for his report. The province says it has not yet been billed for the Ernst & Young audit and so does not have a final cost.

Mr. Bernier said the recommendations in both reports would now go to Ms. Turner. She has been appointed for at least a one-year term.

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