The Ontario government is appointing a supervisor to oversee a London-area school board that has run a deficit for several years, while also initiating inquiries into the financial practices of three other boards.
Education Minister Paul Calandra announced a range of accountability and transparency measures for school boards this week, saying financial mismanagement has increasingly become an issue.
“We have a new troubling trend in the education sector, with boards making bad choices on how to spend funding meant to support our students and teachers,” Calandra said during an April 23
press conference. “As a first step, we are taking action to address the failures at several boards.”
The furthest measures were taken with the Thames Valley District School Board in London, Ont., where the province has assigned a supervisor to manage the board’s finances.
Financial investigations are also being launched by the province into the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board, and the Toronto District School Board following financial deficits and expenditure concerns. The province is also requiring the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board to submit a fiscal and governance plan, said Calandra, who took over the education portfolio from Jill Dunlop last month.
“Some school boards treat hard earned tax dollars like their own,” he said. “We need to take further action to ensure all boards are more focused on directing funding into the classrooms to support students and teachers so that parents can be confident that their children are getting the best from our education system.”
School boards are run by elected trustees but are subject to provincial legislation that grants the Ontario government the authority to take control of their operations through the appointment of a supervisor. The step takes control from trustees and gives the province direct influence over both policy implementation and financial decisions.
Thames Valley District School Board
The Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) first came under scrutiny last fall after senior board officials spent $40,000 on a three-day retreat at the SkyDome hotel in Toronto that summer.The province appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP to investigate the board’s finances and executive pay practices and discovered the board was running a “significant deficit for a number of years” and had cut back on services to students as a result.
The report identified instances in which the board failed to comply with executive salary regulations and pointed to signs of possible financial mismanagement. The report recommended a supervisor be put in charge.
The board referred requests for comment about the supervisor appointment to the Ministry of Education. TVDSB said in a statement last fall that it “is committed to maintaining transparency and accountability.” TVDSB also released details of the Toronto retreat expenses at that time, and chair Beth Mai said the board would review and make changes to its expense policy and procedures.
Premier Doug Ford had criticized management of the Thames board and the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic board during a press conference last fall, referencing both the Thames’ Toronto retreat and a trip to Italy by the Brant board to purchase $100,000 worth of art.
“We’re pouring money into school boards, and they’re out partying and acting like a bunch of yahoos,” Ford said at an unrelated October
press conference.
Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board
The education ministry also appointed a review of the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board’s (BHNCDSB) finances. The decision was reached following the expenditure of approximately $190,000 by four trustees, which included $63,000 for legal fees, to address the repercussions of the July 2024 Italy trip to acquire religious art for two new schools, the province said in a
press release.
The review uncovered “mismanagement of public funds, a disregard for transparent decision-making and non-compliance with their own procurement policy,” the province said.
The board is now expected to act on 18 recommendations from the ministry that will strengthen fiscal responsibility, improve transparency, and address executive compensation and governance issues.
Calandra said the amounts owing for trustee travel expenses must be repaid and the total funds spent on the art and artifacts purchased in Italy must be recouped within 30 days.
The board must also submit a learning plan for trustees’ “professional development” as well as an implementation report on the steps it is taking to address each recommendation. The reports are due May 23.
The Epoch Times contacted the board for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.
The BHNCDSB chair previously issued a statement on its website to apologize for the Italy trip.
“We deeply regret the events that have taken place. We wish to reiterate to everyone that this was undertaken in good faith, with good intentions, and for the promotion of our Catholicity, but mistakes were made,” board chair Rick Petrella wrote in the October 2024 statement.
“I want to personally assure everyone that such incidents will not occur again. We recognize that we let you down and we take full responsibility and ownership for this and are committed to making things right.”
Toronto and Ottawa Investigations
The ministry is also undertaking financial investigations into the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB), the Toronto Catholic District School Board, and the Toronto District School Board, citing their failure to tackle financial deficits and spending-related issues.The province said the Catholic board came to its attention when it engaged Deloitte last year to assess the board’s declining financial status. The findings indicated the board could have implemented further actions to mitigate its financial challenges.
The Catholic board chair Markus de Domenico said in a statement that financial challenges due to unfunded sick leave costs, statutory benefits, and “legacy local commitments tied up in collective agreements” have all played a role in its financial situation. So far, the board has identified more than $80 million in savings and staff has found an additional $10 million in savings for the 2025–26 school and both “remain committed to responsibly managing public funds,” he said.
The Toronto District Board was highlighted in a 2024 report by the auditor general and was instructed by the government to provide a financial recovery plan. The financial plan has yet to be submitted, the province said.
Board chair Neethan Shan identified similar issues as the Catholic board, noting in a statement that benefits and salaries “disproportionately affect large urban boards.” Shan said staff has already identified “several areas with opportunities to reduce spending and find efficiencies” and continues to look for more ways to cut costs.
The Ottawa school board has come under the magnifying glass for completely depleting its reserves, the province said. The board has been reporting in-year deficits since 2021.
The OCDSB said the deficits it ran between 2021 and 2023 were related to the pandemic while those in the past two years were due to a “misalignment between our staffing model and the current funding formula.”
“We take the government’s concerns seriously and will fully cooperate with the announced investigation into our financial position,” the board said in a statement. “Our primary focus remains on providing high-quality education and supporting student success for all our students.” The ministry is appointing a financial investigator to assess the current financial position of each of the school boards and recommend whether the ministry should assume control and oversight of the boards, he said.
“We have been clear: Transparency and accountability from Ontario school boards is mandatory,” Calandra said. “Further actions will be taken if the situation at these school boards does not improve.”
A report detailing the investigator’s findings will be presented to the Minister of Education by May 30.
