Education Minister Paul Calandra is taking over four more school boards over financial "mismanagement" that he said the boards have repeatedly failed to address.
Calandra announced Friday morning that he was appointing supervisors to the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) and the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board (DPCDSB).
"Trustees at each school board have the responsibility to manage the provincially provided funds to directly benefit students and teachers in the classroom," Calandra said at Queen's Park. "Teachers should not be struggling for resources while some boards continue to fund bloated central bureaucracies."
He said the government's recent investigations of the four boards' finances showed they are running "unsustainable deficits."
"All four investigations recommended immediate intervention," he said. "These boards have had multiple opportunities to address their structural financial issues, and time and again, they have failed to do so."
He listed off some of his concerns with the boards, saying the OCDSB has had multi-year deficits "even when they've promised to ... come back to balance" and has had multiple trustees resign; the TDSB "relies on selling assets in order to balance the budget" and "refused to deliver a multi-year recovery plan until the very last minute"; the TCDSB has several challenges that have resulted in the board having an approximately $75 million deficit; and the DPCDSB is "at the brink of bankruptcy."
In response to a reporter's question, Calandra said while the province occasionally allows boards to use proceeds of disposition to help balance their budgets, "what we would like is that when the assets are sold, it's used to repair, renovate and fix schools," he said. "There is an expectation that when that does happen, the board moves back into a balanced position as soon as it possibly can. In these instances here, that has not been the case."
The supervisors, he said, will look into how the boards are run, find any savings and make any necessary changes.
"Their mandate is clear — fix the mismanagement and refocus resources where they belong, in the classroom," he said, adding that it's not just about balancing budgets in the short-term, but rather getting boards "back into sustainable long-term financial footing."
Calandra said while most boards are "doing the right thing," he thinks "a broader rethink of the governance structure of boards is required."
"This is an important first step, but it is certainly part of my thinking over the next little bit as well," he said.
It's also not just about boards that are facing deficits, Calandra added, saying he would step in and redirect funding if boards with surpluses don't prioritize funding for students and classrooms.
He gave the example of the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board (BHNCDSB), which came under fire last year after four trustees incurred about $190,000 in expenses, including more than $60,000 in legal fees, tied to an Italy trip they went on to purchase art.
While the province didn't appoint a supervisor to the board following that, the BHNCDSB was required to submit an implementation plan "to meet the ministry’s fiscal and governance expectations." This included requiring the trustees to repay their travel expenses.
On Friday, Calandra said one trustee decided "he is not going to be repaying the cost of his trip," and that if that's the case, he will table legislation to "vacate that seat, and I will fire that trustee."
The minister said part of his governance rethink is about centralizing more decision-making at the ministry and providing "clear, concise rules on how money is to be spent, on what trustees are supposed to be doing, on what boards of education are supposed to be doing."
Calandra made the announcement as Ontario students wrapped up the 2024-25 school year and followed. It followed the minister's announcement on April 23 that the government would appoint a supervisor to oversee the Thames Valley District School Board. At the same time, he launched financial investigations at the TDSB, TCDSB and OCDSB.
The government said Friday that it launched an investigation into the DPCDSB on June 5 and it was the second one within two years that recommended the province take it over.
The official Opposition and some representatives from the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) criticized the Ford government's move to appoint supervisors to the boards.
NDP education critic Chandra Pasma accused the government of "power grabs and political games," saying the real issue is that education is "chronically underfunded."
"It’s time to stop the blame game and properly fund our schools.”
Michelle Teixeira, president of OSSTF Toronto, called Calandra's announcement an "affront to local decision making and democracy."
"Despite the TDSB balancing its budget, the minister is imposing supervision which is a distraction from the real issue of the chronic underfunding of public education that has been happening for years under Doug Ford's Conservatives," Teixeira said.
Stephanie Kirkey, president of the teachers' bargaining unit at OSSTF District 25, which covers Ottawa-Carleton, echoed Teixeira's comments and said she is "very concerned" about the government's move because it "removes transparency and opportunity for community input, including our ability to provide input from the perspective of our members, on the impacts of board decisions."
Asked if he was dismissing education stakeholders' concerns about underfunding, Calandra said "not at all."
"The supervisors, they'll have a clear mandate — if our funding causes challenges in certain boards, then we'll take a look at that," he said.
All this comes in the first few months of Calandra's tenure as education minister. The Trillium previously reported that Ministry of Education officials flagged "addressing governance dysfunction" at school boards as a "top governance issue" in briefing notes that were provided to Calandra when he assumed the role earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Calandra also announced on Friday that he would postpone any planned curriculum changes for one year — including to kindergarten, history and math — so that a "more central, more consistent curriculum can be brought forward for the province of Ontario, and that teachers have the opportunity to be prepared to deliver on that curriculum."
