Ontario limiting, not axing, the role of school board trustees

Ontario's education minister is planning to limit the role of school board trustees in a raft of proposals that are sweeping, but fall short of his earlier musings about eliminating the positions.

Paul Calandra has tabled a bill that would cut the number of trustees at the Toronto District School Board nearly in half, diminish trustees' budget responsibilities at English-language boards, and mostly remove their role in central bargaining.

Calandra has signalled he was keen on a school board governance shake up since not long after he came into the portfolio one year ago, zeroing in on trustees.

He has also placed eight school boards under provincial supervision and has previously said he couldn't see ever handing the boards currently under supervision back to trustees and was looking closely at eliminating the position of trustee entirely.

Instead, Calandra is introducing a package of reforms that he says would ensure stronger and more stable leadership and boost accountability.

The proposed changes largely leave the role of trustees at French-language boards alone.

Under the banner of accountability, the government says the bill would cap trustees' honorariums at $10,000, ban school boards from paying certain fees for trustees to belong to certain organizations and for costs to attend "non-essential" conferences, and limit trustees' discretionary expenses.

Calandra has in particular singled out the expenses of trustees as evidence of a need for governance changes, and the bill would prevent trustees from billing taxpayers for personal accessories and "unnecessary" travel, meal and hospitality expenses, for example.

Four trustees with the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board racked up $190,000 of the public's money for a trip to Italy to buy art for schools, a provincial governance review found. That included $63,000 to manage the fallout of the trip once it was exposed by the Brantford Expositor.

As well, Calandra has taken aim at expense claims for a $145 Apple watch band and a $15 milkshake by one Toronto Catholic District School Board trustee.

The bill would also limit the number of trustees at a board to 12, a change that would only affect the TDSB, which has 22 trustees, though it is one of the boards currently under supervision so those trustees are currently sidelined.

Calandra’s proposed changes also target collective bargaining, mostly taking trustees out of the process. Right now, trustee associations negotiate on behalf of school boards in teacher and education worker contract talks, but the bill would hand that role to senior staff, with the Council of Ontario Directors of Education becoming the bargaining agent for English public and Catholic boards. 

The French public and Catholic trustee associations would continue to be involved in bargaining, and English Catholic trustees would have a limited role for denominational issues.

English public and Catholic boards would see a new executive position in the form of a chief education officer. The current position of director of education would become chief executive officer, and that CEO would be able to hire a chief education officer, someone who would need an education background. Officials say that separates the business and educational sides of board leadership.

Trustees could hire, but not fire, the CEO. The minister of education would have to approve termination. 

The CEO would also lead school board budget development, under the proposed changes. If trustees can’t reach an agreement, the minister would have the power to make a decision.

In the classroom, the government is planning to mandate that teachers use approved learning resources, such as lesson plans, teacher guides and digital interactive tools including games and presentations. Attendance would account for a percentage of students' final marks in high school. 


This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 13, 2026.