The province has warned the York Catholic District School Board that it could be taken over by a provincial supervisor if it does not deal with serious financial and governance concerns within two weeks.
Education Minister Paul Calandra, who represents Markham-Stouffville at Queen's Park, announced the move on Jan. 28 alongside a tougher step at the Peel District School Board, which he placed under provincial supervision immediately.
The York Catholic board runs Catholic elementary and secondary schools across the region, including many in Markham.
What the province says is wrong
According to the Ministry of Education, years of inadequate financial management at the board have drained its reserves and put its ability to serve students at serious risk. The ministry also pointed to what it called high-risk assumptions in the board's financial recovery plan, an alarming revolving door in leadership and continuing governance problems.
The board has been told the minister intends to place it under supervision if it fails to respond appropriately to those concerns in the next 14 days.
I am also putting the YCDSB on notice that the infighting, disruption and serious financial concerns that have undermined student success for years need to end immediately, with every penny of public funding directed to support students in the classroom.
— Paul Calandra, Ontario Minister of Education
The leadership concerns come weeks after the board's trustees named associate director Jennifer Sarna interim director of education on Jan. 9, while director John De Faveri is on a leave of absence.
What supervision would mean
Changes to the Education Act passed in 2025 broadened the minister's power to investigate boards, issue binding directions or order supervision on financial or non-financial grounds. When a board is placed under supervision, the minister can appoint a supervisor to exercise the powers and duties of the board. Supervisors report regularly to the ministry.
Six other Ontario school boards are already under provincial supervision over growing deficits, depleted reserves and poor management decisions, the ministry said.
Peel board taken over
In Peel, the minister said supervision halts a planned layoff of 60 classroom teachers that would have disrupted learning for nearly 1,400 students in the middle of the school year. That board has run deficits for five straight years and has 14 days to respond before the minister decides whether supervision continues.
For York Catholic families, the next two weeks will show whether the board's trustees and senior staff can satisfy the province or whether decisions about their schools move to a provincial appointee.
