Ontario's education minister gave the York Catholic District School Board an ultimatum on Wednesday: answer the province's governance and financial concerns within 14 days, or expect a provincial supervisor to take over the board's powers.

Families in Markham who send their children to Catholic schools should take the warning seriously, and so should the trustees they elected.

The concerns are not trivial

The ministry says the board's reserves have been depleted by years of weak financial management, that its recovery plan rests on high-risk assumptions, and that it has suffered from an alarming revolving door in leadership and ongoing governance problems. The board's own announcements back up at least part of that picture: earlier this month, trustees named an interim director of education while the director is on leave.

Reserves are a board's cushion against surprises. When they run thin, every unexpected cost becomes a choice between classrooms and solvency. That is a legitimate public interest, and the province has the authority to act on it.

What trustees owe families now

The board's best response is a plan made in public. Trustees should publish the numbers behind their recovery plan, explain which assumptions the ministry considers risky and how they will be fixed, and set out how the board will steady its senior leadership. A closed-door exchange of letters with Queen's Park will not rebuild confidence among parents.

Trustees should also show they can work together. The minister's language about infighting and disruption is pointed. Whatever the merits of past disputes, families need to see a board that can make decisions and stand behind them.

What the province owes in return

Supervision is a serious step. It moves decisions about local schools from people voters elected to an appointee who answers to the minister. Trustees are due to face voters again in the October municipal and school board elections, and that democratic check should not be set aside lightly.

So the ministry should be clear about what an appropriate response looks like. If the test is a balanced budget within a set period, a specific level of reserves or a stable leadership team, it should say so, publicly, before the 14 days run out. A fair deadline needs a known finish line.

Both sides say they want every dollar spent on students. The next two weeks are a chance to prove it, in the open.