Overview

• The legislation expands reasons for investigating and supervising school boards to include public interest and governance issues beyond financial mismanagement.
• School boards will be required to host School Resource Officers if local police services offer such programs beginning next school year.
• The minister would gain authority to mandate public disclosure of trustees’ and administrators’ expenses, approve school naming, require merit-based admissions and detailed tuition and ancillary fee breakdowns at post-secondary institutions, and oversee certain children’s aid society financial decisions.
• Introduced on May 29 by Education Minister Paul Calandra after the recent takeover and probes of four school boards, the bill is poised for swift approval by the governing party.
• Critics including the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario and the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association argue the measures centralize power, erode local democracy and bypass calls for more funding.