TORONTO — The Ontario government has decided to take control of another School Board, the Near North District School Board (NNDSB), after a ministerial review confirmed “deep-rooted dysfunction and mismanagement that have eroded public confidence”. The Education Minister led by Paul Calandra, therefore, after having placed a series of education boards under supervision, is now also using newly broadened powers of oversight and authority enabled by last month’s Royal Assent of the Supporting Children and Students Act, 2025, and, through these, has placed the NNDSB under his direct control. 

“I will not stand by while a board’s incompetence directly impacts student achievement” said Minister Calandra. “This decisive action should serve as a warning to any board that is failing in its responsibility to put students first. 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…”.

According to the news release issued by the Province today, the ministry review, which revealed significant failures in governance and leadership that have caused considerable disruption to student learning, came in response to major setbacks and delays in opening a new, state-of-the-art school for JK-12 students in Parry Sound. Hundreds of elementary students were forced to start the school year at another school, while high school students switched to remote learning and are now being taught in a half-demolished high school.

The review also found: an alarming lack of leadership in the senior administration of the school board; the school board was divided, inexperienced, and unwilling or unable to carry out its responsibilities; trustees showed limited understanding of governance principles despite training opportunities; significant concerns about the Director of Education’s leadership and professional conduct, including inappropriate use by a family member of a corporate credit card; the Minister issued 15 binding directions to the school board to address the reviewer’s recommendations to strengthen effective governance at the NNDSB and rebuild public confidence. The board failed to comply with 10 directions within the timelines set by the Minister, which is why it was placed under supervision. The supervisor for NNDSB will be named in the near future, with the Minister providing supervision in the interim.

Several school boards in Ontario are currently under supervision (the ones under “reviews, investigations and supervisions” are eight, so far: here all the details) to address concerns related to growing deficits, depleting reserves and mismanagement: given the increasing number of cases, one wonders how it happened, in recent years, that school boards have been so incompetently managed. And one also wonders why the Province has only “woken up” since Minister Calandra took office, given that previous governments in Ontario were of the same political color and with the same Premier, but no one lifted a finger, despite the schools’ problems being plain for all to see.

In the pic above, Minister of Education of Ontario, Paul Calandra (photo from Twitter X – @PaulCalandra)