Ontario education minister appoints himself as interim supervisor of school board

TORONTO — Ontario’s education minister has appointed himself as a temporary supervisor as the province takes control of another school board.

The move by Paul Calandra comes less than two weeks after the passage of a new education law, which gives the education minister power to more easily place school boards under supervision.

Calandra had already appointed supervisors to five other boards due to what he called mismanagement, and on Monday added the Near North District School Board as a sixth.

“This decisive action should serve as a warning to any board that is failing in its responsibility to put students first,” Calandra wrote in a statement.

“We are putting school boards on notice that I now have the authority to quickly assume control where there is clear mismanagement and ensure accountability on behalf of parents and teachers.”

Calandra himself will be acting as the board supervisor in the interim as he has not yet appointed one.

A government review found a fractured relationship between administration and trustees, a director of education who participated in determining his own performance rating, an “absence of leadership” from the director of education and that the actions of some trustees contributed to long delays in constructing a new Parry Sound school.

Following that review, Calandra issued 15 directives to the board with tight timelines, and he said Monday that the board only complied with five of them.

The review found that the director of education had been working in an unused school three kilometres away from the head office, where facility, maintenance and sanitation staff are based.

It also found that on at least two occasions, a family member used the director’s corporate credit card for personal use, which the director said he would reimburse.

The inexperience of the board, actions of some individual trustees and “absence of leadership” from the director contributed to some of the problems surrounding the long-delayed opening of a new school in Parry Sound that has angered parents and students, the report found.

The board began planning more than 10 years ago to close two elementary schools and the Parry Sound High School, and build a new JK-12 school.

Parents had been told since 2023 that the new school would open in September 2025, but they were informed just weeks before the start of this school year that wouldn’t happen, the report said.

Parry Sound High School students were told one week before the start of school that they would begin the school year virtually, as the partially demolished building wasn’t fit for occupancy.

The board announced they could return to school in person Sept. 15.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 1, 2025.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press