Ontario taking control of 4 school boards, including TDSB

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.

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.

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.