Education Minister Paul Calandra, pictured in May, 2025, at Queen's Park, introduced legislation on Monday that would limit the number and scope of school board trustees.Cole Burston/The Canadian Press
Ontario is introducing legislation that would represent massive changes to how the province’s education system is run, including limiting the number and scope of trustees and creating new chief executive officer and chief of education roles.
Under the new legislation, the Putting Student Achievement First Act, each school board could have a maximum of 12 elected trustees. Every board currently meets that target, except for the Toronto District School Board, which has 22. The number of trustees at boards would be frozen so that boards cannot add trustee positions.
There would also be new limits on trustees’ discretionary expenses and honorarium to control what the government says is wasteful spending on items such as personal electronics and accessories, membership fees in trustee associations and costs for unnecessary travel, meals and hospitality.
The honorarium would be limited to $10,000, less than half of what the honorarium currently is at some school boards.
Education Minister Paul Calandra has long said that financial mismanagement and poor governance issues are widespread at school boards. He has also mused in recent months about eliminating the role of elected school board trustees.
“If passed, the legislation will fundamentally transform how education is delivered across Ontario,” Mr. Calandra said on Monday. “Trustees will continue to play a role, but that role will change significantly.”
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As of last year, Mr. Calandra has placed eight school boards under supervision, including the Toronto District School Board and the Peel District School Board, the two biggest in the province.
Alexis Dawson, a TDSB trustee who has been sidelined since the board was placed under supervision last year, said the new legislation leaves trustees little room to do their jobs effectively.
“It does seem to be a complete gutting of the role,” she said.
There would also be a new chief executive officer role, replacing the current director of education position, responsible for financial and operational oversight and required to have business qualifications.
To solve what it calls “weak governance and decision making,” the government would create two new roles, the CEO as well as a chief education officer, who would be appointed by the CEO and would need to have educational qualifications, including membership in the Ontario College of Teachers or some equivalent.
The CEO would lead the development of school board budgets and could only be terminated by the ministry, not trustees.
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Trustees will be able to “make suggestions” regarding the CEO’s proposed budget, but they will not be able to make changes to that budget, Mr. Calandra said.
If trustees choose to not support the budget, it will be referred to the Ministry of Education, which will then make the final determination.
Critics have said trustees are needed to ensure parents have a voice to advocate for their concerns.
Without any say over the budget, it is difficult to see what good it will do to have trustees debating policy, Ms. Dawson said.
“Policy is only as good as the funds behind it,” she said.
The wide-ranging legislation also includes provisions addressing bargaining issues and student achievement.
The Council of Ontario Directors of Education would be designated as the central employer bargaining agency for English public and English Catholic boards.
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Taking away trustees’ responsibility for crafting budgets and leading collective bargaining means “removing decisions from people who are directly accountable to the community,” Kathleen Woodcock, president of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association, said in a statement.
“At a time when Ontario should be strengthening public education, these changes point to increased centralization and a growing distance between Queen’s Park and the communities they serve, making it harder for local voices to be heard. It is more important than ever that strong, committed individuals step forward to serve as local trustees and advocate for students and families at the local level,” she said.
Chandra Pasma, the NDP education critic, also accused the government of centralizing decision-making at Queen’s Park.
“Instead of power grabs and political interference, this government should be investing in smaller class sizes, safer schools, and the supports students and families actually need,” she said in a statement.
John Fraser, the interim Liberal leader and education critic, called the bill “supervision by another name” in a statement.
The legislation also promises to create mandatory written exams on official exam days for students in Grades 9 through 12 and aims to curb student absences by making attendance worth 15 per cent of the final mark for students in Grades 9 and 10, and attendance 10 per cent for students in Grades 11 and 12.
Student absenteeism across the province has been climbing since the pandemic and has not “come back down to normal levels,” Mr. Calandra said.
Mr. Calandra said he will continue to look at the role of trustees, and take further actions if needed.
“The goal is to reduce the amount of distractions. The goal is to put parents, students and teachers first, and I think we’ve struck a good balance,” he said.