School boards look for end to moratorium on school closures

School boards continue to lobby the provincial government to lift a moratorium on the process used to determine school closures.

It has been in place since 2017.

President of the Ontario Public School Boards Association Kathleen Woodcock says it is hindering school boards from right-sizing their facilities.

“If a school is not full but there’s a school near it that is overflowing, we can’t go through the pupil accommodation review process to maybe amalgamate those schools or build a new school that would accommodate all of those students,” says Woodcock.

Woodcock is open to sitting down with the Education Minister to help shape a new process.

She says typically, OPSBA is consulted separately for input and recommendations for education.

That did not happen this year.

Education is the second-largest funding in provincial budgets.

Overall funding has increased, but Woodcock says funding on a per-pupil basis has not kept pace with inflation.

“School boards rely almost solely on the provincial government for funding, and when that funding does not keep pace with inflation, the impact is felt directly in the classroom,” says Woodcock.

She says there continues to be a lack of funding and resources for special education, busing and capital improvements.

Woodcock also emphasizes the importance of supporting local school board trustees.

Education Minister Paul Calandra has been looking at how school boards are governed, with the thought of eliminating trustees.

Woodcock says local voices matter.

“People see trustees in the grocery store, at the mall, everywhere we go, at community events, everywhere, and we know our communities,” says Woodcock.

“A bureaucrat in Toronto does not know the local issues that parents are trying to deal with. And when a parent calls a principal or a teacher and doesn’t have anyone to turn to from their community, they are lost.”

She says getting rid of trustees will not save the government the money needed to fix some of the problems that exist in schools.