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The Ministry of Education said the takeover, which was announced on June 27, will address concerns of "financial mismanagement" and growing deficit in the district.
Trustee Lyra Evans, who represents Rideau-Vanier/Rideau-Rockcliffe, said she was locked out of her email the Monday after the province made the announcement it was taking over the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. Photo by Supplied Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) trustees have been locked out of their emails less than a week after the province took over the board, the Ottawa Citizen has confirmed.
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The Ministry of Education said the takeover, which was announced on June 27, will address concerns of financial mismanagement and growing deficit in the district.
It came weeks after OCDSB trustees approved a balanced budget of $1.244 billion after passing four deficit budgets in a row.
Trustees also approved around $18.1 million in cuts as part of the budget, which included staffing cuts some of which had already been made in order to comply with collective agreements or will come through attrition. It also included cuts to learning support services roles not directly funded by the province, including learning support education assistants and other staff who work in special education.
Robert Plamondon, a consultant with years of experience in governance, was appointed as supervisor for the OCDSB.
The province said Plamondon and other supervisors (who will be supervising three other school boards) were selected for strong track records of leadership and oversight. He will also bring extensive experience in government, financial management and public accountability to his supervisory role.
When a school board in Ontario is placed under ministry supervision, the supervisor takes over the governance and decision-making functions of the board, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Education said in an email to the Ottawa Citizen.
The supervisor has the authority to make decisions that would normally be made by the trustees, including financial management, policy implementation, and operational oversight. As such, board email addresses for OCDSB trustees are no longer available for use by trustees.
The lockout meant that trustees have lost contact with hundreds of parents in less than a week.
Trustee Lyra Evans, who represents Rideau-Vanier/Rideau-Rockcliffe, said she was locked out of her email the Monday after the province made the announcement.
That meant she lost access to all the contacts and documents in her email, and she hasnt been able to reach out to parents using traditional avenues like parent council meetings and school events because its the end of the school year.
She said she had been fielding hundreds of emails from concerned parents about the proposed new elementary program model and the 2026-27 budget before the province took over the school board. Shes also been helping parents who are trying to navigate Ottawas education system, especially for students who need special education supports.
This advertisement has not loaded yet. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Evans said she plans on meeting with parent councils when school starts again in September to explain everything.
This was particularly disappointing to me, because I usually have a couple weeks turnaround time for emails that come into my inbox. This is a part-time responsibility and it takes me some time to get answers back from people, she said in an interview with the Ottawa Citizen.
Im not going to be able to get back to any of the constituents that I had emailed or concerned responses to get back to because my email account has been closed, and I dont have access to their concerns, or the emails that they have sent, or any pieces that I would need to get back to them.
Evans also raised concerns about Plamondons role and whether he will only focus on board governance and finances.
Trustees do more than just meet in a boardroom and make decisions, she said. Oftentimes, they are engaging in community-based work.
We help people. We help connect people with the people that can actually help them. We answer questions that people have about how the impact is going to be had, she said.
We visit parent council meetings and hear their concerns that are being raised there, and bring them back to the governance table, all community-based work and local democracy work and the voices of our constituents. Work that is not solely governance focused.
Evans hopes the province will provide more clarity about what a trustees role in a supervised board is going to look like. She says she has not been part of any conversations with the province, but board chair Lynn Scott has met with Plamondon once.
She urged the supervisor to consider local perspectives and voices when making decisions. This is especially important in communities like Vanier, where a large number of residents are low income and live in community housing. Ottawa also has a disproportionate number of students with incredibly complex needs, which means there is a large demand for special education programs in the city.
It is easy for families, particular those from marginalized communities, to fall through the cracks when they do not have someone who is familiar with those issues to advocate on their behalf, Evans said.
Im concerned the supervisor will just come in and say, Well, they do it like this in Durham or they do it like this in Peel, so were going to do it like that here, without recognizing why we do things the way we do. Its very easy to move quickly and break things when you dont understand how things work or why they are the way they are, she said.
Evans hopes the province will reinstate the OCDSB board of trustees by September. She says it has been incredibly difficult to reach out to other trustees and discuss issues because the primary mode of communication has been email, and she doesnt have alternate contact information for all of her colleagues.
In my ideal situation, the province would realize that we passed a balance, we met their requirements under the Education Act. We took the steps this year with the existence of the elementary program review to set ourselves up to pass balanced budgets in the future. So its not like we are just hemorrhaging money year over year; we have taken the steps necessary, she said.
With files from Joanne Laucius
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