Education minister orders northern Ontario school board to resolve dysfunction

TORONTO — Ontario’s education minister has ordered a North Bay area school board to take immediate steps to resolve what a report described as overwhelming dysfunction or he will take “further action.”

Paul Calandra’s warning to the Near North District School Board comes after he placed five other boards under government supervision, and he is considering broad school board governance changes including eliminating the role of trustees.

Calandra tasked a senior ministry bureaucrat with a review following media reports and parent concerns about problems at the board, and she submitted the report last month.

The report found that there is a “deficit of leadership” from the director of education and a fractured relationship between the administration and trustees, who themselves are divided and largely lack experience and knowledge of good governance.

The report says that dysfunction is partly to blame for a long-delayed opening of a new school in Parry Sound that has angered parents and students.

The board, through a spokesperson, declined to comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2025.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press