By Peter Moore
With the start of the school year less than six weeks away, the budget and direction of the Ottawa Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) remains unknown to parents.
On June 27, Ontario’s Minister of Education Paul Calandra announced the appointment of a supervisor to the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB). Three other school boards, the Toronto District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board, and the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, also received supervisors.
“Each of these boards has failed in its responsibilities to parents and students by losing sight of its core mission — ensuring student success,” said Calandra, in a ministry press release. “We’re strengthening oversight and accountability so that parents can have the confidence that every dollar is spent responsibly to directly benefit students. I have made it clear that if a school board veers off its mandate, I will take action to restore focus, rebuild trust and put students first.”
“[Ford] has been systematically destroying our education system by underfunding it”
In Ottawa, Calandra appointed chartered accountant Robert Plamondon as board supervisor, while suspending locally-elected school board trustees as the decision-makers of the school board. As the education minister’s designate, Plamondon wields the minister’s powers under the Education Act; these powers include control over the board’s assets and staffing, and the ability to redo the budget. Creditors must request permission from the education minister before taking legal action against the school board.
As of June 27, trustees no longer have access to their emails or the OCDSB network, nor are they allowed to communicate with staff or constituents on school board matters. Trustees contacted by The Leveller did not respond.
On July 23, Plamondon emailed all parents with students registered in the school board, welcoming feedback to supervisor@ocdsb.ca. “Although supervision means elected trustees have no decision-making authority, I have asked staff to take extra steps to ensure the District remains open and responsive to parents, students, and the broader community. Supervision is not just a change in governance — it’s an opportunity to move quickly and make the positive changes our students need and deserve.”
In his message, Plamondon said he was there to do more than fix the budget. He has directed staff to reintroduce exams and summative assessments in Grades 9 and 10 this fall. The controversial catchment boundary changes approved in the Elementary program review also appear to be on hold.
“I want to assure parents that no students will be required to move schools for the 2025–2026 school year,” said Plamondon in his email. “I work for the students, and by extension, their parents. This also means supporting educators, those who have chosen one of the most meaningful careers in society.”
Up until this email, the public was in the dark about the process and direction. The education ministry had not responded to questions from The Leveller on the role and timeline of the supervisor.
“I’ve been able to get no information from anyone on what is going to happen, so it’s very difficult to do any advocacy,” said Tom Ledgley, coordinator of Horizon Ottawa, a citizen advocacy group, a few days before the email.
“They talk about transparency and accountability, which is easy to do, but they don’t do anything about it.”
Some parents expressed doubts the supervisor would achieve the promised results.
Tami Grosset, whose daughter just finished grade 8 at Fisher Park Summit Alternative school, said she doesn’t trust Plamondon because he was appointed by the Doug Ford government. “[Ford] has been systematically destroying our education system by underfunding it,” she said. “I find it mind-boggling that they say they want the best for students, but they won’t pay for it.”
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives think tank reported that Ontario is spending less on education in Ottawa, rather than more. “The funding gap for the upcoming school year is $42.8 million, compared to what the board would have received had 2018-19 funding kept pace with inflation and enrolment. By its calculations, the school board will receive $560 less per student this year. “The cumulative funding gap over the past seven years is $338.4 million.”
In its 2025-2026 budget, the school board had balanced the budget in part by phasing out the Alternative elementary program. Any student currently in the program as of this Fall 2025 would be able to complete Grade 6 for elementary and Grade 8 for junior high. No new students would be enrolled in the 2026-2027 school year.
Both of Grosset’s children attended the Alternative program which made a big difference, according to Grosset. “It has been so much easier to get support in the Alternative system,” she said. “The teachers are thinking about each child’s individual needs, and they are using that information to build a class learning program.”
Grosset said she has some hope the Alternative program could be recovered once the school board’s finances improve. However, there is a lack of clarity in the current situation.
Minister Calandra based his decision to suspend the board trustees and appoint a supervisor on a report he commissioned by PricewaterhouseCoopers, a major financial firm. The report said the school board had accumulated deficits for four years in a row, had no reserves left, and there was a possibility it would overspend again this year, despite the balanced budget being approved in May.
The report identified an additional challenge to the school board: retroactive pay and benefits costs due to the repeal of Bill 124 by the Ontario Superior Court. The legislation had sought to cap public servants’ salaries, including teachers, to 1 per cent increases over three years; the court repealed it for violating collective bargaining rights and restricting union workers’ right to strike.
The Ottawa school board was hit like every other school board in Ontario. The PricewaterhouseCoopers report detailed an “underfunding” gap of $19.3 million in retroactive pay and benefits for 2023-24 year with an additional $8 million for the 2024-2025 year. The education ministry did not respond to The Leveller about whether it provided additional funds to the school board to compensate.
Despite these challenges, the board approved a balanced budget for 2025-26 on May 27. The vote was 12-3. Trustees Nili Kaplan-Myrth, Lyra Evans and Amanda Presley, who sat on the Alternative Schools Advisory Committee, voted against the budget. Since then, Kaplan-Myrth (Zone 9, Capital-Alta Vista) resigned on June 4, and Justine Bell (Zone 10, Somerset) resigned on June 23.
Horizon Ottawa coordinator Tom Ledgley said the OCSDB faced an impossible task to present a balanced budget, did it and then was put under supervision. “They were in an unwinnable situation. They had to make a lot of tough choices.”
Ledgley said he is concerned that the government’s political agenda on education may take inspiration from across the southern border.
“They talk about transparency and accountability, which is easy to do, but they don’t do anything about it.”
