Ontario’s education minister says he’ll have a plan by the end of the year to possibly eliminate trustees from school boards across the province. 

It’s the latest update in Minister Paul Calandra’s mission to remove school trustees as part of a review of the provincial governance model.

“I think everybody deserves some certainty,” Calandra told CBC Radio’s Metro Morning on Friday. “I’m 100 per cent looking at the elimination of the trustee position.”

The idea has drawn opposition from parents and other politicians, who say removing trustees leaves families without an official advocate.

WATCH | Calandra faces backlash over idea to cut school trustees: 

Ontario’s plan to eliminate school board trustees sparks criticism

As kids in Toronto head back to school, former trustees say the province doesn’t have the same intimate knowledge of individual schools that trustees have, and that removing them would strip parents of their democratic power. CBC’s Lorenda Reddekopp explains.

Calandra says his plan will help bring more resources into the classroom, end division within school boards and make it easier for parents to access the system. 

Earlier this year, the province appointed supervisors to take over five school boards, including the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), Toronto Catholic District School Board (TDSB) and Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board (DPCDSB).

The province said the takeovers were in response to financial mismanagement within the boards that supervisors will help to get back in order.

“The ones that we have taken over have had challenges by and large, where trustees have just refused to make the right decision,” Calandra said. He said trustees failed to maintain surpluses and took money out of classrooms. 

Supervisors will ‘deliver a better product’: Calandra

Several parents, teachers and trustees have argued financial mismanagement isn’t the problem, but rather chronic underfunding of education from the province. In a report last year, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found that Ontario’s core education funding has dropped by $1,500 per student since 2018, a figure the government has disputed.

Province-appointed supervisors will look at whether the “funding formula” is causing challenges, Calandra said. If that’s the case, he said the ministry will review funding for school boards. 

But “a vast majority” of Ontario’s school boards are running with a balanced budget or with surpluses, Calandra said.

While supervisors have been tasked with balancing school board budgets, Calandra said they will not do so at the expense of classroom education and important programs. 

“Get in there and deliver a better product for our teachers and their students. And [the supervisors] are doing that,” Calandra said.

Calandra said he’s not considering the elimination of school boards, but the province will continue to take over supervision if needed.

The province tabled Bill 33 this year, which would make it easier for the government to take over a school board without an outside review. 

WATCH | Province gets pushback against takeover of specific school boards: 

Toronto teachers, trustees speak out against province’s takeover of 4 school boards

Ontario has taken control of four school boards — including the Toronto District School Board — citing “mismanagement.” CBC’s Britnei Bilhete speaks to frustrated community members, who say the real problem is chronic underfunding of schools.

Calandra said if Bill 33 is passed, it will allow the ministry to step in much more quickly in situations where “boards are falling apart because of challenges between trustees.”

“So it’s really the province that has to step up again,” he said. 

Province won’t condense 72 boards into 4, minister says

Calandra also said “there is no truth to the rumour” that the province is thinking of condensing all 72 boards into four.

In a statement on Friday, Ontario NDP MPP Chandra Pasma, official opposition shadow education minister, defended the role of school boards and blasted the idea of the boards being centralized.

“Parents and communities deserve local, transparent, accountable representation through democratically elected trustees to ensure that the school bus shows up on time, that programs and hiring respond to community needs, that new schools are located where they are needed most, and repairs are prioritized and carried out quickly,” Pasma added.

“Instead of attacking the right of parents to have a say in their children’s education, Doug Ford and Paul Calandra should focus on providing the necessary funding to ensure that every child’s needs can be met.”