Ontario’s education minister says while he doesn’t have any “absolutely imminent” plans for school board takeovers, there are “a number” he is looking at as a bill that will give him enhanced powers looks set to become law.
On Wednesday, Bill 33 passed its third reading at Queen’s Park after a shortened debate and bypassing committee, with Royal Assent set to follow.
The controversial legislation will make it easier for Education Minister Paul Calandra to sideline trustees and appoint supervisors to take their place, something he has already done at five school boards.
Before the current reforms, the minister required a financially-based recommendation to take over a school board or had to clear a far higher, multi-investigator report.
The bill would also give the minister power to direct school boards to publicly post expenses of trustees, the director of education and others, and would give the minister power over school names when boards open new schools or want to change an existing name.
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As well, Ontario would require school boards to implement a school resource officer program if the local police service offers one.
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Those changes have been labelled a “power grab” by opponents, who include some parents, sidelined trustees, opposition MPPs and education unions.
A coalition of education unions issued a joint statement Tuesday, blasting the legislation as a “hostile takeover” of local school boards.
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“This legislation sidelines democratically elected local trustees — disempowering families, weakening transparency, and clearing the path for politically driven decisions that ignore student needs and community voices,” the statement said.
“It empowers ministry-appointed supervisors who often have no background in education, no ties to local communities, possibly no understanding of the mission of French-language schools, and no commitment to equity or human rights.”
Calandra, however, said he had made no bones about the fact he felt Queen’s Park should have substantially more power over how school boards operate.
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“I’ve not shied away from that since taking this position,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “The ministry needs to have more authority to step into school boards that have gone off the rails.”
He pointed to the “fiasco” at the Near North District School Board, where a ministry review found a “deficit of leadership” from the director of education and a fractured relationship between the administration and trustees, who themselves are divided and largely lack experience and knowledge of good governance.
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Calandra said it would be “one of the first boards” he looked after Bill 33 receives Royal Assent and becomes law.
He said he didn’t have an immediate list of plans but suggested he would make serious use of his new powers.
“I don’t have anything absolutely imminent, but as I said, there are a number of ones that I’ve been looking at,” he said.
“This bill will allow me, even in those situations where (the) board is in a financially good spot but where governance has fallen apart, it will allow me to step in to put it back on track.”
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