Ontario set to announce school board changes with future of OCDSB trustees in doubt

The Ontario government is set to announce new legislation outlining changes to the province’s school boards. CTV’s Kimberley Johnson reports.

The Ontario Government is set to announce new legislation on Monday outlining school board changes, which comes less than a year after suspending the role of trustees at several boards across the province, including in Ottawa.

• Proposed Ontario school board changes coming April 13

“I’ll be introducing legislation on Monday,” Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra told reporters at a news conference Friday.

He said he knows people are feeling “anxious” about possible changes and wants to provide certainty.

The announcement will be watched closely by Cathy Varrette, who in an interview with CTV News Ottawa says she has a son in Grade 6 at the Ottawa Carleton District School Board (OCDSB).

“It’s important to me because it’s not just my son but all the children that matter,” she said.

Varette hopes plans includes more educational assistants, smaller class sizes and programs for students with special needs like the ones her son benefits from.

“We need an expansion on these classrooms and not an elimination of them. We all know early intervention is the most important thing for a child. So, the earlier you start them in these programs, the better success rate they have,” she said.

The announcement is expected to come with details on the future role of trustees in Ontario schools.

Last June, the provincial government took over the role of the OCDSB and suspended the roles of trustees, replacing them with a provincially appointed supervisor – citing financial mismanagement.

While Calandra did not give specific details about what will be in the legislation, he indicated that more direct control will revert to the ministry.

“For 50 years, the Ministry of Education has felt that the best way to deal with things is to download to school boards that don’t have the ability or the capacity to deal with problems,” he said.

“Monday is about bringing back that level of responsibility and leadership through the Ministry of Education.”

Lyra Evans is an elected trustee at the OCDSB, and while there’s been no official word about whether the position will be on the ballot in the next municipal election, she says she will be hoping it is.

“I believe it’s really important that trustees continue to be in elected position,” explains Evans.

“It’s really important that communities are able to find someone who’s locally accountable to fix issues in their child’s classroom, to fix issues as they come up. To make sure that the policies that they create are serving the local needs.”

Varette says trustees act as a vital bridge and hopes to see the role return.

“Now that the trustees are suspended, a lot of our parents have just realized how vitally important trustees are,” she said.

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