BLOG 3 - WHAT DO SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEES DO AND WHY DO WE NEED THEM? (8 Oct 2022)

Over the course of this election campaign, a number of people, including my own mother, have asked me what school board trustees do and why we need them. In this blog, I hope to answer those questions, but first a little background from the educational historian in me.

In 1816 the first school boards with local trustees were established in Upper Canada (the previous name of Ontario). This was long before we even had a country called Canada (1867) with federal and provincial governments. School board trustees back in the 19th century had the power to select textbooks and to make rules and regulations for the good government of their schools. So, we can see that local democracy rooted in Ontario school boards has a long history.

Over 170 years, the number of school boards and trustees increased. However, since the 1990s, that has changed and there has been a decrease in numbers of school boards and trustees. Before the 1960s there were over 3,000 Ontario school boards. Today, there are only 72.

In addition, the role of school board trustees has been diminished and because the population of Ontario has grown so much, each trustee represents more constituents than ever before. Locally elected trustees used to have the authority to tax citizens for the maintenance of schools. They also oversaw all matters affecting schools, including the curriculum, hiring teachers and building schools.

That is no longer the case today. Those powers are now in the hands of the provincial Ministry of Education. So, do we need trustees today? YES! Even though their roles and responsibilities have decreased over time, there is still a really important role for trustees to play in preserving our local democracies.

School board trustees are the members of a school board. They assist the school board in fulfilling its duties under the Ontario Education Act. A trustee's role is to maintain a focus on student achievement, health and safety. They need to make decisions that benefit the board's entire jurisdiction, while representing the interests of their own constituents.

What is key here is that trustees, unlike the staff of the school board, are locally-elected representatives of the public. I am a fervent supporter of local representation. School board trustees, I believe, still play an important role in local democracy. For example, they are advocates for their local schools and students, promoting the needs of public education at the local level. They are the link between parents/guardians and concerned citizens they represent and the school board itself. Local school board trustees are responsible for identifying the needs and priorities of their constituents and bring those needs and priorities to the board. A trustee needs to make sure that the community has a direct way to express its views on education decisions that affect their daily lives. And while they need to make decisions that meet the needs of their constituents, they must also work with other members of the school board to develop policies that meet the needs of all students across the board.

One of the biggest problems of our school system is that we assume that a cookie-cutter, standardized approach will meet the needs of all students. That is not true. (And here I'm speaking as a former teacher.) A one-size fits all system does not benefit all students in our province. Trustees recognize the unique needs of schools in their board (and in their specific wards) and will advocate for educational approaches that meet the needs of students and schools they represent. For example, one board may focus more on pedagogical approaches such as the Essential Conditions for Learning, which has been the focus of this year's professional development for TVDSB teachers, while another board may see school safety and mental health well-being as the area that they need to focus on in their schools.

For all of these reasons, I see that there is still a very important role for locally-elected school board trustees as advocates for the students, schools, parents and guardians in the wards that elected them to serve their needs and address their educational concerns. So, please be sure to exercise your democratic right to vote for your local school board trustees on October 24th during the Ontario municipal elections.