SUDBURY—While the Rainbow District School Board (RDSB) and its trustees have concerns relating to the future of school boards and that the voice of boards, students and parents may become obsolete, RDSB pledges to continue to bring concerns voiced to the attention of the province.
“Bill 33 does stop short of eliminating school board trustees, but it could be death by a thousand cuts,” stated David Farrow, RDSB chair after a board meeting last week and the announcement and vote that saw the province enact Bill 33, last week.
“There are many things that are worrisome in terms of what may happen over the next six months or so,” said Mr. Farrow. “We have a good group of trustees. As a board we will continue to work very hard to keep the local voice.”
“We have known that the passing of Bill 33 was coming for some time,” said Mr. Farrow. “It is concerning the province has granted the minister of education the power to take over any school board, under supervision. It is a scary situation all boards find us in.”
“The real challenge is making sure the local voice from local residents continues to the board and that we bring this to the ministry,” continued Mr. Farrow. “Our board is very diverse; in terms of transportation we are an area that is four-and-a-half hours from east to west, and two-and-a-half hours from north to south. Within our board, in terms of transportation for example, we have unique needs and need to bring any concerns forward. But will the ministry listen to, and act on these concerns?”
Manitoulin trustee on the RDSB, Lisa Corbiere-Addison told The Expositor after the announcement last week, “I did oppose the implementation of Bill 33 and have sent a letter indicating this to all members of provincial parliament in Rainbow district. Like any elected representatives trustees should have a voice.”
“At this point I can’t say trustees are not going to have a change—there will definitely be changes,” said Trustee Corbiere-Addison. “There has to be change, whatever form it takes, for those boards that are not being financially responsible. Our board is very much fiscally responsible, but in this case, we are being painted by the same brush by the government as those that are not fiscally responsible.”
“There has to be change, but whatever changes are made have to be fair, especially to boards like ours that have been responsible,” stated Trustee Corbiere-Addison.
At an organization meeting prior to the regular school board meeting last week, Mr. Farrow expressed, “I want to begin by expressing how much of an honour it is to be re-elected as chair for another term.” He said he had second-guessed himself prior to letting his name stand for the chair’s position again and talk to some colleagues; he decided that RDSB needed to just continue with the same united front going forward as it has. “The political situation is going to become even more challenging. Our number one goal is has been and will always be student success.” He said there are going to be challenging times ahead for school board trustees.
Starting this past spring, education minister Paul Calandra has brought forward the thought of eliminating trustees, and now has taken control of five school boards and appointed supervisors to each of them.
Bill 33, which passed in the legislature November 19 without going to committee, makes it easier for the government to take over school boards. The minister also announced school boards will be required to establish an entity called Student and Family Support Officers led by a supervisory officer, something that educators and boards say will take away the voice of trustees. These offices will be open in January in each of the five school boards under supervision, while all other boards (including RDSB) will be expected to submit a report by March 31, outlining how they will establish an office by September 1.
At the RDSB meeting, Trustee Bob Clement said that “Bill 33 is to go to the final vote. This new law would fire elected trustee and replace them with Conservative insiders, silence parents and cut crucial student services.”
Judy Kosmerly, who represents RDSB on the Ontario Public School Boards Association (OPSBA), said having several school boards under supervision is affecting that organization. She said OPSBA’s board of directors is expected to be reduced from 52 current members to 13 and said that the next OPSBA meeting she attends may be her last with OPSBA. Several large school boards “are under supervision orders, and those orders include expectations that those boards not pay funds into OPSBA, leaving OPSBA in a deficit position for this year and into the future.”
T.J. Goertz, manager of strategic communications with OPSBA told The Expositor, “In our budget we had to cut 25 percent because boards in Ottawa, Toronto, Thames Valley each provide fees to OPSBA but will no longer be able to.”
“The OPSBA, its members, students, parents, and families across Ontario are deeply concerned by yet another blow to local democracy,” an OPSBA statement reads. “The government’s decision to bypass the standard legislative process for Bill 33, Supporting Children and Students Act, eliminating the customary opportunity for public input through committee hearings at Queen’s Park, is both disheartening and anti-democratic.”
“Removing the consultation denies government partners, including students, families, communities, and school boards, the opportunity to contribute constructive feedback that would help ensure this controversial legislation effectively addresses the issues it seeks to resolve,” OPSBA says.
Invoking time allocation undermines public trust and conveys that the government’s will is being prioritized over openness and accountability,” OPSBA continued. “This approach effectively suspends the normal legislative process, removing the stage at which members of the public can share their perspectives through committee hearings.”
“We have consistently demonstrated our commitment to working collaboratively with the government,” said Kathleen Woodcock, OPSBA president. “The best public policy solutions are achieved through consultation and collaboration with stakeholders, those who know and work in the system, and experts, rather than in isolation at Queen’s Park.”
The broad authority this legislation provides a minister of education is troubling, OPSBA continued. “Bill 33 would significantly expand ministerial oversight, further centralize decision-making and shift control over school boards away from the communities they serve. It would effectively lessen the democratically elected role of public school board trustees across the province.”
“Trustees are representatives who know their local school communities best and are duly elected members of the governing board. Further, Bill 33 would displace appointed First Nation trustees and student trustees on boards under supervision, both of whom have a statutory role on school boards,” OPSBA continued.
“Once again, the conservative government will weaponize its majority, not to serve students, but to silence communities and erode public trust,” a joint press release from Ontario’s education unions states. “Bill 33 is nothing more than a hostile takeover of public funded education governance and a strategic attack on democracy, dressed up as modernization and accountability. 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 education unions continue, “trustees are not perfect. Some have stumbled, and others have failed their communities. But in a democracy, accountability belongs to the people, not political insiders. If the Ford government truly cared about accountability, it would start with its own record, one marred by scandal and a blatant disregard for public oversight.”
The bill passed third and final reading on Wednesday of last week allowing the minister to more easily put school boards under supervision and Minister Calandra says the law allows him to put boards on track when they fall off the rails and cited the example of the Near North District School Board. In October, the minister issued a number of directives to the North Bay-Parry Sound board after a government report found it was dysfunctional and he has said if the board doesn’t meet all of those requirements, he will take control.
