Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra says he will make a final decision early in the new year on what changes to make to the role of trustees in the school system, but he is signalling he is inclined to largely eliminate it.
Speaking at a school today in Ottawa, where he announced funding to build two new schools and expand one, he says nothing so far has led him to believe that the Ministry of Education's $43-billion budget should be delivered by trustees.
When Calandra first started floating the idea of changes to school board governance not long after being appointed education minister earlier this year, he said he would communicate his plan by the end of this year.
He says now that will be a bit delayed because he is closely examining Charter and constitutional issues as they relate to Catholic and French education rights.
Calandra says trustees in those boards will always have a role in denominational issues, but English public trustees have no such guarantees and he could get rid of all of them "in one fell swoop" with the stroke of a pen.
The minister says he has not yet presented a plan to cabinet for approval, but he says definitively he will not close or amalgamate school boards, nor will he merge the public and Catholic systems, nor will he introduce charter schools.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2025.
