Trustees in Ontario are waiting to see if they’ll still be in place for October’s elections, as the education minister prepares to present his plans for school board reform.
Before legislators returned to their ridings ahead of the Good Friday long weekend, Education Minister Paul Calandra promised his long-awaited trustee-related legislation was finally ready.
“Just a few more sleeps and you’ll be able to see where we’re going,” he teased in a scrum with reporters at Queen’s Park on April 2.
For almost a year, Calandra has openly mused about the future of trustees, discussing the constitutional protections afforded to French and Catholic Trustees and highlighting the lack of cover for public boards.
An overhaul of school boards and the potential elimination of trustees was initially expected toward the end of 2025, and then pushed back.
Instead, Calandra continued a widespread takeover of school boards. There are now eight boards in Ontario under the direct supervision of the government, many of them among the largest in the province.
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The boards under supervision are:
- Peel District School Board
- York Catholic District School Board
- Toronto District School Board
- Toronto Catholic District School Board
- Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board
- Thames Valley District School Board
- Near North District School Board
- Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
At those boards, government-appointed supervisors have taken over running the boards instead of elected trustees.
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However, board takeovers are, theoretically, temporary measures. Calandra has said he will return boards to their trustees once they are going in a direction he approves of.
Speaking to reporters, he said he was pleased with the progress under supervisors but that boards “shouldn’t expect” to be under the control of trustees in the near future.
“I think we’re starting to see boards under supervision making the progress that we need,” he said.
“Certainly, in Near North we’re seeing some great progress with respect to the super build. Frankly, all the supervised boards, they’re doing what they need to do to put the boards back on track and we’re seeing the results of that.”
As for the details of his school board overhaul, which has now been through the cabinet process, Calandra said he would be “releasing the legislation as soon as we get back after the constituency week.”
Legislators return to Toronto on Monday morning.
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