One month after ordering Northern Ontario school board must decide What the report calls overwhelming dysfunction, the provincial government says it is bringing under control.
Education Minister Paul Calandra made the announcement Monday, saying he was placing the Near North District school board under provincial control.
“I will not stand by while the board’s incompetence directly impacts student achievement,” Calandra said in a press release. “This decisive action should serve as a warning to any board that fails in its responsibility to put students first.”
Calandra went on to say that he is “warning” school boards that under the Child and Student Support Act, which became law last month, he has the ability to take over if there is “clear mismanagement.”
Calandra's move comes a month after he ordered the school board to take immediate steps to address problems laid out in a department report that found a “leadership deficit” on the part of the education director and a broken relationship between the administration and trustees.
“Under the current leadership of the board of trustees and the director of education, I do not see a viable path forward for this school board to govern and lead in a manner that restores public trust,” wrote reviewer Rachel Osborne.
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Osborne also said in her report that she believed the department's intervention was justified.
In October, the minister issued several mandatory directives in an order, including a professional development plan for board members and the use of an outside expert to help them evaluate the performance of the education director.
He said his 15 directives take effect immediately or give the board a narrow window of five to 15 business days to comply.
The council failed to implement 10 directives within the required time frame, prompting the decision to place it under supervision, the ministry said on Monday.
A leader will be appointed soon to oversee the board, but for now Kalandra will provide oversight.
The Near North District School Board is the sixth board the provincial government has brought under its control since it became law, with some of the province's largest boards in Ottawa, Toronto and Peel also under direct control of Queen's Park.
—with files from Isaac Callan of Global News and The Canadian Press
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
