LILLEY: High time Ontario puts kibosh on wasteful boards renaming schools

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Enough is enough: That’s the message from Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra.

Legislation introduced at Queen’s Park last week will give the provincial government the authority to step in and correct school boards sooner – including when they try to rename schools. That means attempts to rename schools honouring people like Sir John A. Macdonald, Egerton Ryerson or Henry Dundas will need permission from the minister.

“I am, frankly, as done as all parents are and teachers are with a school system that has turned into a political battle zone,” Calandra said last week. “Teach our kids, give the parents, the teachers the resources they need or we will step in and do the job for them.”

His decision to introduce the Supporting Children and Students Act at Queen’s Park came about after a string of stories of boards behaving badly.

In London, Ont., the Thames Valley District School Board spent tens of thousands of dollars sending administrators to the hotel at the Rogers Centre for a retreat. That came as the board was in the middle of cutting resources for students.

That looks like peanuts compared to the $190,000 spent by the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic School Board on a trip to Italy to buy religious art for a new school. An investigation into that trip saw the province order board trustees involved in the trip to repay close to $50,000 of the trip’s cost.

Meanwhile, the Toronto District School Board voted in February to rename Dundas Junior Public School, Ryerson Community School and Sir John A. Macdonald Collegiate Institute, a move that will cost significant funds. Despite the law being introduced after the decision, it will, if passed, still cover this daft move by the TDSB.

“If a board began using a new school name on or after Jan. 1, 2025, but before the day section 5 of Schedule 2 to the Supporting Children and Students Act 2025 came into force, the minister may require the board to apply for approval of the name,” the bill says.

Calandra made it clear that he’s not in favour of Toronto’s renaming plans, calling it a waste of money.

“At the exact same time, they’re telling me that they have to maybe close school pools down or they have to fire teachers,” Calandra said.

The minister’s move to bring sanity to the system should be welcomed by all. Sadly, that’s not the case with union officials, school board associations and opposition politicians denouncing the legislation, some even saying the problem is a lack of funding.

“The real issue here is that the system is under financial strain,” the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association said in a statement.

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It seems pretty clear to anyone who is watching that there is a real problem with school boards spending money on the wrong things, including their pet political projects.

“I want politics out of the schools first and foremost, right?” Calandra said.

“I don’t need trustees to develop curriculum. I don’t need them to give me advice on global affairs, but what I need them to do is put money into classrooms and into our teachers so our students can succeed. When they move away from that mission, I will have the authority under this legislation to put them back on track and ensure that they’re focused on their main mission.”

Ontario spends $30 billion per year on elementary and secondary schools, a figure that works out to about $14,000 per student. We aren’t getting value for our money and a big part of that is wasted spending at the board level.

The scandals that Calandra reacted to are egregious. If he wants to find the real waste, he will start looking into the consultant class inside every single school board. That’s where the real financial waste will be found, along with many of the political problems he’s trying to root out.