TVDSB trustees plan community meetings to rally parents against provincial education bill

Elected trustees removed from their roles at the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) by the province are pushing back with community town halls aimed at rallying parents against the decision.

TVDSB Chair Beth Mai said Thursday night's meeting is an attempt to beat back Bill 33, a controversial education reform bill that would, among other things, allow Education Minister Paul Calandra to take control of school boards without outside review, and make it mandatory for police officers to be in schools.

"I'm really concerned about what it does, because it gives the minister unilateral control in some cases and really centralizes some decision making that I and some others believe should remain in the community," Mai said.

The TVDSB is at a pivotal point in a tumultuous months-long saga marked by scandal, leadership turnover, allegations of financial mismanagement, and an eventual provincial takeover. That takeover has seen a provincially-appointed supervisor, lawyer Paul Boniferro, placed as the sole person in charge of the board.

In the process, elected trustees like Mai were removed, but she said that won't stop her from connecting with the parents she represents.

Given the Doug Ford government's strong majority at Queen's Park, Mai said she's concerned the bill will pass unless parents are vocal in opposing it, so this type of engagement is necessary.

"We have a meeting scheduled for tonight, and we have a second meeting already set up for next week for folks that [can't] attend tonight," Maid said. "I personally can say that I will continue to speak up about Bill 33."

It's not just the currently tabled iteration of Bill 33 that concerns Mai, she said.

In recent weeks, the prospect of eliminating elected trustees has been floated by Calandra and Ford, and it has been opposed by teachers' union leaders and trustees.

"Bill 33 doesn't include eliminating school board trustees and centralizing all of that, But Calandra has been speaking pretty openly about that, so it wouldn't surprise me if the bill were amended to include that," Mai said.

"People need to be aware because those changes can happen rather quickly. Folks deserve, in my opinion, a local voice, because our school boards are not one-size-fits-all. I don't think it's in the community's best interest to have someone who's sitting in Queen's Park making decisions about what's best for our community."

A document published by Mai and five other TVDSB trustees frames Bill 33 and the supervision of school boards as a "distraction plan" to draw attention away from the "chronic underfunding" to education in the province, which Mai said is the primary cause of the school board's woes.

She said trustees will be at the virtual meetings to discuss the matter with residents and encourage them to contact their members of provincial parliament to voice their opposition.

The first meeting is scheduled for Sept. 9., at 7 p.m.

CBC News has made multiple requests to speak to supervisor Boniferro but have not been granted an interview.