Ontario education minister eyes more possible board takeovers with now-passed bill

TORONTO — Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra is signalling that he will act quickly to use new powers granted to him to take control of school boards, eyeing one board in particular identified by a government report as dysfunctional.

A bill that passed third and final reading Wednesday allows the minister to more easily put school boards under supervision, as well as require more boards to put police officers in schools.

Critics have decried the bill as undemocratic, as government supervision of boards removes the role of elected trustees, but Calandra said the law allows him to put boards back on track when they “fall off the rails,” citing the example of the Near North District School Board.

A government review found a fractured relationship between administration and trustees, a director of education who participated in determining his own performance rating, an “absence of leadership” from the director of education and that actions of some trustees contributed to long delays in constructing a new Parry Sound school.

Calandra issued a number of directives to the board last month and he said Wednesday that if the board doesn’t meet all of those requirements, he will take control.

“You have students who are being taught in a half-demolished high school because of decisions of a board, and anybody who suggests that the minister of education should allow that mess to continue is wrong, and I will fight them every step of the way,” he said.

The Near North board did not return a request for comment. It has previously said it is committed to addressing all of the directives.

Calandra has already appointed supervisors at five other school boards due to what he calls mismanagement, and the bill expands the reasons for initiating an investigation or putting a board under supervision beyond just financial ones, to include matters of public interest.

Calandra has also said he is considering eliminating the role of trustees and hopes to make a decision by the end of the year.

He said Wednesday, though, that the French and Catholic boards would retain their constitutional rights, giving trustees authority at least on French and Catholic-specific issues.

The opposition parties, teachers’ unions and some parents have been vocally critical of the bill. The Ontario Public School Boards’ Association said trustees ensure every community has a say in shaping schools.

“When that local voice is shut out, everyone loses,” president Kathleen Woodcock wrote in a statement.

“Supervision must always be a last resort, supported by a clear and well-communicated plan outlining required expectations for all parties, including a transparent path for governance out of supervision and back into local, elected community hands.”

NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the issues in schools and in boards are a result of government decisions.

“They’re trying to pretend like they’re the ones who are going to fix it, when they’re the ones … who created this mess in the first place,” she said.

“So I don’t trust Paul Calandra or Doug Ford to fix our schools. They have created this mess, and I think right now, what they should be focused on is how to properly fund our schools.”

The bill also requires school boards to implement a school resource officer program if the local police service offers one.

Some school boards have such programs on a voluntary basis, while others ended their programs several years ago, after some students reported feeling uncomfortable or intimidated and some racialized communities raised concerns.

Andrea Vasquez Jimenez, director and principal consultant of the group Policing-Free Schools, said this week at a press conference that putting more police in schools is the wrong direction.

“The government knows that they cannot police their way into school safety, student safety or student academic achievement and that the relationship-building narrative is an intellectually disingenuous and harmful narrative,” she said at a press conference.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 19, 2025.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press