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Supervision, Bill 33 and Your Trustees:

Busting the Myths

Myth: Trustees are causing school board deficits by mismanaging money.

 

Facts: 

  • Per Pupil funding from governments has not kept pace with inflation.

  • The province isn’t paying enough for statutory benefits (CPP/EI) or supply staff costs and that shortfall is pulling money away from students. 

  • The recent audit at TVDSB confirmed most issues were operational and done without trustee approval. 

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Sources:

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A deeper dive:

School boards are legally required to pay Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Employment Insurance (EI) contributions for staff. However, the provincial funding formula does not fully cover these costs, creating a structural deficit for boards. The TVDSB is underfunded over $13 million for statutory CPP and EI costs that we are obliged to pay for. Statutory increases to EI and CPP added $1.6 million in costs, with no corresponding increase in provincial funding, and this is projected to grow by $2.1 million next year with a cumulative total of $13.2 million due to Thames Valley by the province.

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The bottom line:

We agree that there is room for improvement to trustee oversight of school boards and welcome a collaborative process that puts everyone at the table to make it right. In the meantime, suggesting that trustees are the problem is a distraction from the province’s chronic underfunding of our schools. 

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Myth: Trustees are just highly-paid politicians who waste money.

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Fact: 

  • Trustees are elected officials who receive an honorarium that works out to be much less than minimum wage for most of us.

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Sources:

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A deeper dive:

All trustees receive a base amount of $5,900 per year plus a per-student amount that means trustees on larger boards generally earn more than smaller ones. In Thames Valley it is less than $20,000 per year. The Chair and Vice Chair receive a small stipend to acknowledge the additional work that commitment requires. 

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We are not employees of the board with pensions and benefits; we are community members and many of us volunteer hundreds of additional hours to represent families and students. Our budgets are very small compared to overall system spending. Currently the honorarium has been eliminated for boards under supervision so #yourtrustees are not receiving any pay at all

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The bottom line:

Trustees are not unpaid volunteers, but we are the lowest paid of any elected official (less than ⅓ of London’s median income) and most of us earn a lot less than minimum wage. We are parents and advocates who live in your community. We are not in it for the money, and paying us doesn’t take any money out of classrooms. 

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Myth: Eliminating trustees will make education more efficient.

 

Fact:

Removing trustees means less transparency and slower response to local issues. Trustees can help resolve community concerns before they escalate, saving time and resources.

 

Sources:

 

A deeper dive:

Even the Ministry states that "School boards are…best positioned to recognize the local needs of their students, communities and parents.”  Trustees are the bridge between those local needs and provincial policy, translating broad decisions into actions that work in real classrooms. When you remove that link, issues that could have been solved quickly and quietly (like transportation problems, boundary changes, or special education gaps) end up escalating to the Ministry, creating delays and confusion. 

 

The bottom line:

On the surface it might look like eliminating trustees will streamline governance, but we think it will create bottlenecks as fewer people are in place to respond to your concerns and help you navigate the system. More importantly, it would take away public accountability because the people you’ll be contacting report to the Ministry of Education, not the community itself. Efficiency isn’t gained when the people closest to the problems are cut out of the conversation.

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Myth: Bill 33 will help ensure all students are represented equally.

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Fact: 

  • Provincial decisions are broad and policy-based; trustees ensure those decisions work for each community’s unique needs from rural schools to urban challenges.

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Sources:
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A deeper dive:

Ontario’s communities are incredibly diverse, and the needs of their schools are just as varied. In rural areas, students often travel long distances because small schools have been merged or closed. These boards may also struggle with staffing shortages in specialized subjects, higher facility costs, and access to mental-health or technology supports. Urban boards face the opposite challenge: overcrowded classrooms, portables, and wide differences in income, language, and access to services from one neighbourhood to the next. Trustees understand these realities because they live in the communities they represent. Without them, provincial decisions made in Toronto risk missing these on-the-ground differences, leaving both rural and urban students behind in different ways.

 
The bottom line:

Equity in education doesn’t come from treating every school the same. It comes from listening to every community’s needs. Trustees turn provincial policy into local action, making sure every student, in every neighbourhood, has a fair chance to succeed.

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Myth: Trustees only represent adults, not students.

 

Fact: 

  • School boards include Student Trustees who bring authentic youth voices, something no provincial official can replicate.

 

Sources:

 

A deeper dive:

Student trustees serve as co-chairs of the Student Advisory Committee and are a vital connection to student voice across all our schools. As part of the Ontario Student Trustee Association, they are committed to enhancing equity, funding formula reform, strengthening rural & northern schools, system modernization for 21st century learning, supporting student well-being, and school board governance.

 

The bottom line:

TVDSB’s supervisor has cut off student trustees’ voice completely and denied three elected representatives the chance to represent their student community. This goes against the board’s own bylaws but more importantly, it’s disrespectful to the students who elected them. 

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Myth: Bill 33 is just a small improvement in governance models.

 

Fact: 

  • Bill 33 is a step toward making good on the threat to eliminate the elected role entirely, permanently removing public oversight of billions of dollars in education funding and property.

 

Sources:

 

A deeper dive: 

The Ministry of Education has already taken direct control of several school boards through “supervision,” including Thames Valley, where #yourtrustees can no longer make decisions on behalf of our communities. Bill 33 would make that process easier and faster by giving the Minister permanent new powers to and take over boards under vague “public interest” rules. In practice, this means the Ministry could replace any board’s elected trustees with a single government appointee, no matter how well the board was functioning, without public input or transparency. These changes go far beyond “governance modernization”; they remove the local checks and balances that protect communities from centralized political control.

 

The bottom line:

Bill 33 sets the stage for a province-wide takeover of public education. Supervision in several school boards is a test case to show how easily the government can remove elected trustees and replace them with ministry control. If the bill passes, it will make that process faster and more common, silencing community voices across Ontario. This isn’t about equalizing representation, it’s about eliminating it.

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Myth: Trustees only represent parents of children in the school system.

 

Fact: 

  • Trustees are elected by all voters to ensure that school boards remain accountable to the entire community. 

  • When public education thrives, communities thrive.

 

Sources:
 
A deeper dive:

Trustees represent everyone who lives in the community, not just parents with children in schools. Every taxpayer helps fund public education, and every resident benefits from a well-educated population. Schools don’t just prepare students for tests, they prepare future voters, neighbours, employees, and leaders. Electing local trustees makes sure that community values and priorities shape the learning environment that builds the next generation of engaged citizens. When trustees are silenced or removed, that vital connection between schools and the communities they serve is lost.

 
The bottom line:

Strong public education is a shared investment that benefits all of us. Trustees make sure that investment stays accountable, equitable, and focused on the long-term health of our communities. Public education doesn’t just shape students, it shapes the society we live in together.

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Myth: Bill 33 is “Supporting Children and Students.”

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Fact:

There is no evidence at all that the bill benefits anyone but those who seek to centralize power within the provincial government. 

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Sources:

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A deeper dive:

Bill 33 gives the Minister of Education sweeping new powers to investigate boards based on loosely defined “public interest,” issue binding directives, and even effectively absorb boards that don’t comply with ministerial instructions.Proponents claim these changes enhance oversight and accountability but there is no absolutely no evidence that these provisions will improve student outcomes or equity. Instead, these changes concentrate authority in Queen’s Park and weaken the checks and balances provided by locally elected trustees. 

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The bottom line:

Bill 33 is not a benign reform; it’s a centralization tool disguised as support. Rather than empowering students or communities, it further strips local control and paves the way for removing trustees entirely. If passed, it will make the elimination of public accountability the norm, not the exception.

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FACT: #YOURTRUSTEES ARE HERE FOR YOU

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