Ontario taking control of 4 school boards, including TDSB
Education minister says supervisors have been appointed following financial investigations
Ontario has taken control of four more school boards due to "mismanagement," the education minister announced Friday while saying it's time for a broader rethink of board governance.
The province has appointed supervisors to the Toronto District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and the Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board, Paul Calandra announced on what is the last day of school in many boards across the province.
Calandra said the moves come after a recommendation following financial investigations of the boards showed growing deficits, depletion of reserves and ongoing mismanagement.
"These boards have had multiple opportunities to address their structural financial issues, and time and again they have failed to do so," Calandra told reporters Friday. "We are appointing supervisors with a clear mandate to get these boards back on track."
Calandra said the boards have failed parents and students, and he's sending a message.
"All school boards across the province should be put on notice, even those that are running a surplus," he said.
"Where decision-making does not prioritize student success, where it does not prioritize resources for teachers in the classroom, I will not hesitate to step in and redirect that funding back into the classroom."
In his little more than three months in the portfolio, Calandra has come out swinging against boards — having now taken control of five — and signalled Friday there is likely much more to come.
"I think a broader rethink of the governance structure of boards is required," he said. "This is an important first step."
Trustees should be focusing on their core mandate, he said, but the Ministry of Education also needs to look at its own structures. Too much decision-making has been decentralized over the last few decades, Calandra said, and the ministry should be providing "clear, concise rules" on how money is spent, and what trustees and boards of education do.
In April, Calandra put the Thames Valley District School Board under supervision following a review of a $40,000-staff retreat to Toronto that included a stay at the hotel connected to the Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays play.
This is not just about boards that are running deficits, Calandra said, pointing to the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board, which was the first board he put under supervision.
That came after an investigation found four school trustees racked up a $190,000 bill on a trip to Italy to buy art for new schools.
Province's education spending criticized
The president of the Ontario Public School Boards' Association noted that Calandra said most boards are managing their budgets properly and supporting students and teachers.
"School board trustees across Ontario take their roles very seriously, particularly their commitment to being financially responsible, transparent, and accountable to the communities and students they serve," Kathleen Woodcock wrote in a statement.
"We urge the supervisors to maintain open and transparent lines of communication with the trustees who represent parents, students, and communities."
Others say the real issue is the province's lack of spending on education.
The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) says the province's takeover is a power grab, and boards haven't been properly funded for years.
"School boards are being forced to do more with less," the OSSTF said in a social media post. "Since 2018, the Ford government has taken more than $6 billion out of the classroom and funding has fallen FAR behind inflation."
The province set aside $30.3 billion for education in this year's budget, calling it a record investment. But a report last year from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found that Ontario's core education funding has dropped by $1,500 per student since 2018, a figure the government has disputed.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles took to social media Friday to say schools need investments, "not absolute control."
"We've seen massive cuts since 2018, the government repeatedly targeting educators and education workers, and zero regard for the kids in our classrooms," she said in a post on X.
NDP education critic Chandra Pasma wrote in a statement that "Minister Calandra and the Progressive Conservatives are using this as an opportunity to hand out partisan appointments to individuals with no background in education and no interest in the future of our kids."
The supervisor for the Dufferin-Peel Catholic board is former Progressive Conservative MPP Rick Byers, who has a background in finance and auditing. The supervisor for the Toronto public board worked for the federal Conservative government nearly two decades ago and the government describes him as a "highly accomplished public policy and finance professional."
In a statement, Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie asked why the province has appointed "conservative insiders as supervisors for the four boards instead of supervisors with the requisite education experience needed to do the job?"
"Today Doug Ford is doing the thing he does best: pointing a finger and blaming others," she said.
Calandra says 4 boards have host of problems
The government said the TDSB has rejected nearly half of the cost-saving measures management has recommended over the past two years and the board relies heavily on proceeds from asset sales to balance its books.
The Toronto Catholic board tripled its in-year deficit compared to last year, the government said. The Ottawa board has "completely depleted its reserves, incurred an accumulated deficit," and plans to use money from asset sales to balance, the government wrote in a press release.
The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, meanwhile, is "at the brink of bankruptcy," Calandra said.
Calandra also announced Friday that he has paused several pending curriculum changes for boards in order to bring more consistency and to give teachers more time to prepare.
A new kindergarten curriculum with a focus on literacy, math and STEM was set to start this fall, as were changes to the history curriculum for Grades 7, 8 and 10. Teachers had previously complained about the timing of new curriculum announcements and rollouts, and the union representing high school teachers said Friday this pause is welcome.
"The process has been rushed, with little meaningful consultation with the teachers and education workers expected to deliver it," OSSTF president-elect Martha Hradowy wrote in a statement.
"[The union] is looking to work with the government to get this right — to ensure students benefit from a curriculum that is thoughtful, well-supported, and built with frontline expertise."
With files from CBC News