Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra in Ottawa in December, 2025. Mr. Calandra says the York Catholic District School Board can’t resolve its challenges on its own.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Ontario’s education minister placed an eighth school board under supervision Thursday due to what he calls significant governance issues.
Paul Calandra put the York Catholic District School Board on notice in late January that he would place it under supervision if it did not “appropriately respond” to pressing concerns within two weeks.
At the same time, he placed the Peel District School Board under provisional supervision and gave the board two weeks to respond to his concerns, saying he would then decide whether to continue with the supervision.
“After careful review, it is clear that both Peel and York Catholic are facing serious challenges that they cannot resolve on their own,” Calandra wrote in a statement Thursday.
“I have appointed supervisors to restore sound management, strengthen oversight and ensure every decision is focused on protecting student learning and success.”
Ontario takes over Peel District School Board, halts plan to lay off 60 teachers
Heather Watt, a management consultant who was until a few years ago chief of staff to then-health minister Christine Elliott, was appointed supervisor of the Peel board. Carrie Kormos, a consultant and gaming executive who previously worked for former Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak, was appointed supervisor of the York Catholic board.
NDP education critic Chandra Pasma said school boards should be led by people with education experience, not political connections.
“Students, parents, and educators should be at the centre of decisions about our schools,” she wrote in a statement. “Instead, Minister Calandra is blatantly ignoring the voices that should matter most and handing control to political insiders.”
Calandra has said the York Catholic board has depleted its reserves, refused to submit a “realistic financial recovery plan” and has had seven directors of education in nine years.
Critics have said that Calandra’s moves to take over school boards and sideline trustees erodes local democracy, and they say boards are in dire financial shape because provincial funding is not keeping up with increasing needs or inflation.
Calandra has been signalling for months that he is planning on broader school board governance changes, including possibly all but eliminating the role of trustees. He said he expects to make a final decision “soon.”
Any changes will not include closing or amalgamating school boards, merging the public and Catholic systems, or introducing charter schools, he has said.