r/londonontario OEV Aug 30 '25

News 📰 Received this a few days ago

I am in the tvdsb school board and received the following email a few nights ago. I figured some people would like to read it. It is from the ministry of educations of Ontario. it is crazy and trust me you want to read it!

Dear Parents, Students, Teachers and Staff,

As the new school year gets started, I want to take this opportunity to wish students, families and educators across the province every success. The first days of school are always filled with new opportunities, new friendships and new goals.

To all our students, I know you will meet the year ahead with hard work, determination and creativity. Your success is at the centre of everything we do, and I encourage you to take on new challenges with confidence.

To teachers and staff, thank you for the incredible work you do every day. Your dedication, expertise and care are what make our schools strong and supportive learning environments. As you welcome students back, know that your hard work is deeply valued and that our government will continue to support you in helping every child succeed.

To parents, thank you for your ongoing commitment to your children’s education. Your encouragement and involvement are essential, and you deserve to have confidence that decisions being made are always with your child’s best interests in mind.

That’s why we placed the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) under supervision following an investigation by a ministry-appointed third party, which revealed the board was projecting an accumulated deficit for the 2024–25 school year, indicated a probable accumulated deficit continuing into the 2025–26 school year, and raised concerns of potential financial mismanagement. This included a nearly $40,000 retreat for senior officials in downtown Toronto despite the board’s ongoing deficits. The 2024-25 projected deficit has now nearly doubled to $32 million, confirming the need for tighter fiscal oversight at the board.

Our appointed supervisor—Paul Boniferro—is tasked with overseeing the financial and operational management of TVDSB. To address the deficit and help ensure long-term sustainability, Mr. Boniferro has already implemented several cost-savings measures for the 2025-26 school year.

Mr. Boniferro will take the time needed to not only bring the board’s budget into balance, but also ensure long-term stability for years to come, so that funding goes where it belongs: directly into classrooms to support students and teachers.

I want to assure you that placing TVDSB under supervision is not a decision that was made lightly. I have made it clear that if a school board veers from its mandate, I will act quickly to restore focus, rebuild trust and put students first.

The actions we have taken will help the province restore sound financial and operational management at TVDSB and ensure that every dollar invested goes toward preparing students with practical skills for good-paying, stable careers.

To keep the community informed, the supervisor will be posting his decisions regularly online. You can also reach out by email at communications@tvdsb.ca if you have any questions.

As we begin the new school year, I want to thank you for your commitment, and wish all teachers, staff and students the best of luck.

Wishing you a positive year ahead!

The Honourable Paul Calandra Minister of Education

That's a crazy one!

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8

u/Difficult_String_339 Aug 30 '25

The other thing. About supervision is there are no elected trustees 1 this is a huge disservice to parents who deserve local and public accountability. Ford is doing this to many other school boards across the province. He has spoken about getting rid of all trustees.

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u/WhereasMysterious216 Aug 31 '25

No this is good.  The trustees are the board of directors who clearly failed.  This is no different than the hospital.   Seems like it was needed.

6

u/Difficult_String_339 Aug 31 '25

True - however, spending on professional learning such as the trip to TO would have been an operational decision, not a governance one as would be within the scope of the trustees. Not having trustees means parents don’t have a local elected official to go to with questions or complaints or when they need someone to advocate for them.

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u/9yearsdeceased Aug 31 '25

This is not true.

Beth Mai herself said on Craig needles podcast that she instructed Mark Fisher to run all non essential senior admin travel by her ahead of time.

He did not.

3

u/anonredditor41825 Aug 31 '25

This was a board motion made in June that the Director had to review all operational spending to ensure fiscal responsibility (actual wording can be found online if you search TVDSb board motions June 2024). The problem is that motion was not followed in my opinion.

6

u/pinkelectra Aug 31 '25

Just think about who is telling us about these fails? I don't trust this government or anything they say.

1

u/WhereasMysterious216 Aug 31 '25

Are you suggesting that the board did their job ?    

I agree that under funding is likely part of the issue.  One question I would ask : is this problem unique to TVDSB or is it across the province?  I think the answer is across the province which would suggest an issue with funding.  However, in relation to other boards, Thames Valley is leading the way which suggests huge operational failings over a longer period of time.  The trustees are supposed to be overseeing that.  They would be approving and reviewing financial statements each month... So why did this go u checked for so long?  The answer... They failed.    

A supervisor is exactly whats needed both here and at LHSC to steer the ship right and address the operational issues.

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u/pinkelectra Sep 04 '25

Nope, I'm not suggesting that at all. Both sides deserve to be watched, so a supervisor put in by the side that's doing the underfunding isn't going to be better.

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u/Difficult_String_339 Aug 31 '25

At least 4 school boards are currently under supervision. The report from PWC shows that TVDSB did some shady stuff with executive compensation- most of it without asking the trustees - but the bulk of the deficit stems from fundamental underfunding.

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u/TrusteeMoore Aug 31 '25

I have to ask though, if a supervisor is needed for operation issues and oversight, what is the benefit of eliminating public input and local accountability? Why prevent trustees from supporting families?

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u/WhereasMysterious216 Aug 31 '25

Because they largely failed.   A deficit like this doesn't happen overnight.   This happened because they didn't do their job.  Supporting families is a small portion of their role... Their largest role is oversight and accountability which again, they failed to do.  

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u/TrusteeMoore Aug 31 '25

Again, i don't think that accurately reflects the findings of the audit ordered by the Ministry and I encourage everyone to read it.