Province's takeover of OCDSB, other school boards slammed as 'power grab'

CBC

6 hours ago

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When Education Minister Paul Calandra announced the province would be appointing supervisors to four Ontario school boards — including Ottawa's largest — on Friday, he said it was to ensure that "every decision made by the board prioritizes direct support for students in the classroom."
But according to several critics in Ottawa, the appointments won't have that effect.
The takeover came out of an investigation into several boards launched earlier in 2025 that projected a fifth straight year of financial deficits at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB).
The province has now appointed consultant Robert Plamondon to oversee the board. In a press conference, Calandra said supervisors like Plamondon will look closely at how the boards are run, find savings and make changes needed to restore responsible management.
While an initial assessment of the OCDSB's finances predicted another deficit for 2025-26, trustees did approve $18.1 million in cuts earlier this month in order to balance their budget.
"The fact that we have passed this balanced budget and the ministry is still trying to take us over, I don't know where they're expecting to find additional savings," said board trustee Lyra Evans.
'Primary problem' is funding
In a press release announcing the takeover, the ministry said the four school boards had exhibited "mismanagement and poor decision-making."
It said the OCDSB had "completely depleted its reserves, incurred an accumulated deficit, and plans to use unsustainable proceeds from asset sales to balance its books."
Calandra also spoke Friday about frustrated parents and noted the recent resignation of two OCDSB trustees. He also said the budgets for the next school year had yet to be reviewed by staff.
According to Evans, the school board's "primary problem" is the funding it gets from the province.
"There are huge deltas in things that the ministry has not adequately funded us for," she said, listing a gap between government funding and OCDSB spending on special education and on statutory entitlements like employment insurance and the Canadian Pension Plan.
While the province continues to boast its "record funding" for education, Ottawa West-Nepean MPP Chandra Pasma says it's actually to blame for any deficits.
One recent report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives pegged the provincial funding shortfall to the OCDSB over the last seven years at $338.4 million, while noting its per-student funding has dropped by $560 from the 2018-19 school year and the 2025-26 school year.
"If funding had just kept pace since 2018, the Toronto District School Board, Toronto Catholic District School Board and Ottawa-Carleton District School Board would not have [been facing] a deficit this year," said Pasma, the Ontario NDP's education critic.
Pasma acknowledged previous instances of financial mismanagement from Ontario school boards, but said there are other ways to deal with misuse of funds that don't amount to an "unmitigated power grab."
Need for 'clear, concise rules' on spending
Calandra said the appointments were also motivated by how the ministry has "decentralized" decision-making, giving trustees more leeway with budgeting and curriculum choices.
"That is where the Ministry of Education has to come back in, to refocus centralized decision making and provide clear, concise rules on how money is to be spent, on what trustees are supposed to be doing, on what boards of education are supposed to be doing," he said.
Evans disagreed, saying a supervisor may not understand the needs of different communities.
"We have locally elected trustees because it allows us to advocate for our communities and to bring that voice to the district. If we don't have that local voice at the table, then what works in Toronto might not work here," she said.
"It's very easy to move in and break things when you have no understanding of why things are the way they are."
Plamondon, an author and academic who previously as the interim chair of the National Capital Commission, started in his role as supervisor on Friday.