School board trustees and parents in Ottawa are anxious that major changes announced on Monday for Ontario’s English school system could undermine local governance over education.
Education Minister Paul Calandra revealed his plans Monday as part of the Putting Student Achievement First Act, which includes restricting elected trustees’ financial duties, mostly eliminating their role in central negotiations, and replacing the director of education with a CEO who has business experience along with a chief education officer.
Given these adjustments, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) trustee Lyra Evans expressed uncertainty about the actual influence trustees have in education now.
“If trustees don’t have the ability to make changes and they don’t have the ability to do anything other than advocate, how is having a trustee with no power better than not having a trustee?” she questioned.
She remarked that appointing a business-focused CEO misrepresents what education should be about.
“Education is a service that is intended to educate our kids to make sure that we are preparing people for the world ahead of us,” Evans said. “When it becomes all about counting dollars and cents, I think we have missed the plot.”
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board trustee Lyra Evans. (Michel Aspirot/CBC)
On the other hand, another OCDSB trustee, Donna Blackburn, believes the changes aren’t as drastic as some might think. She noted that trustees’ power has been reduced over time, and this represents just another step along that path.
“This whole big kerfuffle today is much ado about not much,” she commented on Calandra’s announcement.
Calandra had indicated throughout the past year that he was contemplating eliminating public English-language trustees entirely due to alleged financial mismanagement at certain boards. However, that was not included in Monday’s announcement.
“Obviously, I’m very relieved that the position of trustee will remain,” Blackburn stated. “And quite frankly, most of it’s not a big surprise to me, and some of it I actually welcome.”
Instead, Calandra announced restrictions on trustees’ discretionary expenses and set their honorarium at $10,000. Both Evans and Blackburn pointed out that this could deter qualified candidates from running for election and serving as trustees.
“Ten thousand dollars before taxes means you are not going to get people who are the best candidates for the job,” Evans explained.
The honorarium for an OCDSB trustee was approximately $16,000 last year; however, they’re receiving nothing while under supervision from higher authorities. Blackburn added that given her workload, it’s already less than minimum wage.
“There are concerns about who would be attracted to this job,” she remarked. “For the most part, you would have retired people or those who are quite wealthy and can afford to take it on without proper compensation.”
The OCDSB is one of eight boards currently under direct provincial oversight. Calandra mentioned they will stay under supervision “for as long as it takes to put them back on the right track.”
“They will not be returned a minute before,” Calandra told reporters on Monday.
The province also intends to limit each board’s number of trustees to a maximum of 12-this only currently impacts Toronto District School Board.
In classrooms across Ontario , teachers will now be required by law to utilize approved learning materials like lesson plans and guides.
The legislation also aims to implement mandatory written exams during “official exam days” for students in grades nine through twelve while requiring “attendance and participation” be factored into high school final grades.
“I had a really big issue with that,” said Alicia Vrieswyk , an Ottawa parent whose child has special needs. She pointed out children with complex needs may miss class more frequently , raising concerns regarding their attendance scores.
“I think that really sort of negates diverse learners ,” she noted.
Vrieswyk shared her experiences working with trustees during an elementary program review through a parent advocacy group , expressing worries over “top-loading” at OCDSB with new roles like provincial supervisor , CEO , and chief education officer.
“We had such great interactions with the trustees last year.. they could see on a human level , on student success level ,” Vrieswyk stated. “They’re taking away any of the powerthetrusteesactuallyhad.”A welcome sign overthe doorof an Ottawa classroom. Alicia Vrieswyk, a parentwithchildreninthe Ottawapublicand Catholicschoolboards, saysshe’sconcernedaboutthesweepingchangesproposedbythelegislationannounced Monday.(Justin Tang/)
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She questions how much taxpayers will footthe billfor those newly created oversight positions.
“Between allofthoseheftypricetags, I’mnot surehowthatequatestoa students-firstapproach,”Vrieswyksaid.
Calandrataldreporterson Mondaythatexistingdirectorsorsuperintendentsmayfillsomeofthe CEOorchiefeducationofficerrolesanddoesn’tforeseeanyfinancialimpactfromintroducingthoseoversightpositions.
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