Province to ‘significantly’ reduce trustees’ power, change how high school students are graded

GUELPH – Elected trustees will still have a place in the Ontario public school system if new legislation is passed, but they’ll have far less power than they do now. 

That’s according to an April 13 announcement from the Ministry of Education about the proposed Putting Student Achievement First Act, which includes changes to board governance and how students are taught and marked. 

Minister Paul Calandra said “if passed, the legislation will fundamentally transform how education is delivered across Ontario.” 

The bill would “strengthen oversight, ensure consistent learning resources and direct every dollar into classrooms,” provincial officials state.  

But union officials and educators disagree.

The legislation “is a distraction from the fact that we’re underfunded,” Upper Grand Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) president Krista Pedersen told the Advertiser, noting there’s nothing in it that addresses student needs.

“It doesn’t address smaller class sizes, doesn’t address violence in the classroom and doesn’t address student mental health,” she said, adding the changes constitute an unnecessary restructuring to centralize control. 

Classroom changes

The proposed legislation would:

• mandate the use of ministry-approved learning resources;
• introduce mandatory written exams in Grades 9 through 12 accounting for a “significant” portion of grades; and
• require attendance and participation to be part of students’ final marks – 15 per cent for Grades 9 and 10 and 10% for 11 and 12.   

Four local educators spoke with the Advertiser on the condition of anonymity  and said the changes don’t reflect what teachers are asking for or support their needs.

They’re grappling to understand what the announcement really means, and have many questions about implementation but are sure of some things: “It’s not going to improve anything,” is “ignoring the reality of what’s happening” and distracts from the real issues.  

They don’t see meaningful change in the announcement, and stress the biggest problem is severe underfunding. 

“Since this government has been in power the cuts have been felt increasingly every year” and “many of the issues we encounter today come from that underfunding.”  

“I don’t see how yesterday’s announcement helps that problem, and it actually seems to make the issue worse.”    

While a couple educators expressed appreciation for the increased focus on attendance, one expressed concerns attendance-based grades will widen achievement gaps for marginalized students, who they said often miss school due to familial responsibilities such as caring for siblings while parents work second jobs to make ends meet, or accompanying parents to appointments to help with translation. 

And they’re worried mandated resources will limit their ability to use professional judgment to adapt to what different students need for success. 

“When we say we want more resources we don’t mean mandate resources  – we mean smaller class sizes, more [educational assistants], things like that,” they said.

What’s needed to put student achievement first is increased funding, they said, and “the money spent on education positively impacts our economy and the future of our province. Taking away powers of democratically elected trustees just feels like a power move.”

School board governance

If the legislation passes, Calandra said trustees will continue to represent students, parents and the community, but their role will be “significantly reduced ... vastly reducing their ability to disrupt the system.”  

Directors of education would become “chief executive officers” responsible for financial and operational oversight, including budget and staffing, removing these responsibilities from trustees. 

The Upper Grand and Wellington Catholic district school boards (UGDSB and WCDSB) would not make directors Peter Sovran and Michael Glazier available for interviews, nor would they permit trustees to comment.  

Officials at both boards said they’re aware of the proposed legislation and are reviewing the details while remaining committed to supporting student learning and well-being.  

The legislation would see “chief education officers” appointed in every board to focus on student achievement.

Calandra said “the goal is to identify existing superintendents to become chief education officers,” though some directors of education may assume both roles.  

Local boards have superintendents of student achievement: Wendy Donaldson at the UGDSB and Sandra Cummings at the WCDSB. 

Calandra said appointing chief executive and chief education officers will not have a financial impact. The legislation would put a cap on trustees’ pay and require them to pay out of pocket for membership fees, including for the Ontario Public School Board Association (OPSBA).

Trustees are paid a base of $5,900 a year, with an additional $5,000 for the chair, $2,500 for the vice chair and additional pay to cover authorized expenses and membership fees.

The legislation would designate the Council of Ontario Directors of Education as the central employer bargaining agency for English and Catholic boards, removing the trustees’ leadership in public bargaining.

And there’s no guarantee the legislation is the end of changes to trustees’ roles, as Calandra said he “will not hesitate to continue to look at the role of trustees should more refinement be needed.” 

‘Sounding the alarm’

As the local ETFO president, Pedersen is worried about the changes to collective bargaining.

“I find it concerning that one person can ratify an agreement as opposed to having the board of trustees do it ... to have that much power centralized on one person,” she said. 

Since last year the province has taken control of eight school boards, stripping trustees in those boards of all of their power. 

OPSBA president Kathleen Woodcock says since taking over those boards the province has made “troubling decisions ... without public consultation,” including removing caps on class sizes, eliminating programs, changing bell times and reducing student supports. 

She said limiting trustees’ responsibilities “means removing decisions from people who are directly accountable to the community.” 

Instead, “those decisions are being made by highly-paid individuals – making as much as $350,000 a year – accountable only to the Minister of Education, not to local communities,” Woodcock said.

Ontario Green Party Leader and Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner said trustees provide a voice for families and communities, and the proposed legislation silences that voice. 

“Parents, students and teachers have been sounding the alarm for years over how the Ford government’s underfunding of Ontario’s education system is hurting students,” Schreiner stated in a press release.

“This government’s response is to give itself more power, create more bureaucracy and cut resources for teachers and classrooms.” 

Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation officials stated the government “is failing students and their families, teachers and education workers by ignoring the real issues in our schools: rising violence, growing class sizes and chronic underfunding. 

“Governance reform and the corporatization of school boards will not fix unsafe schools. It will not lower class sizes. And it will not put more supports in place for students.”