Ontario’s Education Minister, Paul Calandra, has indicated his intention to swiftly utilize newly acquired powers to assume control of school boards, with a specific focus on a board highlighted as dysfunctional in a government report. A recent bill, approved after its third and final reading on Wednesday, empowers the minister to more efficiently place school boards under supervision and mandate increased police presence in schools.
Critics have denounced the bill as undemocratic due to the removal of elected trustees through government supervision. However, Calandra defended the law, emphasizing its role in steering boards back on course when they veer off track, citing the Near North District School Board as a prime example.
A government assessment revealed a strained relationship between administration and trustees, a director of education involved in determining his own performance evaluation, a lack of leadership from the director of education, and trustee actions causing significant delays in constructing a new Parry Sound school. Calandra issued several directives to the board recently, warning that failure to meet these requirements would lead to his intervention.
Calandra has already appointed supervisors to five other school boards due to alleged mismanagement, with the bill broadening the scope for initiating investigations or placing boards under supervision beyond solely financial matters to include issues of public interest. Additionally, he is contemplating the elimination of trustees’ roles, with a decision expected by the year’s end, although French and Catholic boards would retain their constitutional rights.
Opposition parties, teachers’ unions, and some parents have strongly criticized the bill. The Ontario Public School Boards’ Association emphasized the importance of trustees in representing community voices in school governance. NDP Leader Marit Stiles attributed school and board issues to government decisions, accusing them of creating the predicament and urging proper funding for schools as a priority.
The bill also mandates school boards to implement a school resource officer program if offered by the local police service. While some boards have voluntary programs, others discontinued such initiatives years ago due to student discomfort, intimidation concerns, and objections from racialized communities. Andrea Vasquez Jimenez, from the group Policing-Free Schools, voiced opposition to increased police presence in schools, asserting that building relationships, not policing, is the key to ensuring school safety and academic success.