TDSB reforms don't go far enough, says Education Minister Liz Sandals

Bring it on!

The Toronto District School Board could still face a provincial takeover if it doesn’t remove all trustee involvement in hiring principals, reduce director Donna Quan’s say in her own performance reviews, and draw up a sharper game plan for overdue school repairs, Education Minister Liz Sandals has warned.

In a tough response Thursday to the TDSB’s plan for complying with 13 marching orders Sandals had issued to tackle the board’s dysfunction, the minister said, “It is clear that more work is needed. The response I received from the board raises some concerns.”

Sandals issued the orders after a report she commissioned by educator Margaret Wilson to solve issues of infighting and dysfunction at the board called for reducing trustee involvement in the day-to-day running of schools, salary rollbacks among senior staff, and plans to deal with underused schools, all to be accomplished in 29 days. The board submitted its response two days before last Friday’s deadline, having voted to fulfill all of the 13 demands.

Yet Sandals said Thursday that trustees hadn’t gone far enough; they should not have retained final approval over the hiring of principals, vice-principals and superintendents, and Quan should not have kept such a “high degree of control” over her own performance appraisal.  (more...)

TDSB reforms don't go far enough, says Education Minister Liz Sandals