Toronto school board trustees elected in October ask province to restore their powers

Toronto's 12 newly elected Toronto District School Board trustees told Ontario's education minister on November 6 that they want a meeting to discuss how provincial supervision of the board will end and when their governance powers will come back.

The letter, signed by all 12 trustees and addressed to Education Minister Paul Calandra, comes 11 days after Toronto voters cast 672,546 ballots for TDSB trustees on October 26. Despite winning their seats, the trustees cannot attend school events, go to board meetings, or speak with principals in their official role. A provincial supervisor, not the elected board, is running the TDSB.

Why the board is under supervision

The Ontario government put the Toronto District School Board under supervision before the election, saying the board had financial problems, governance failures, and budget deficits that required the province to step in. Rohit Gupta, a former Metrolinx advisor, was appointed as supervisor and now holds the authority that elected trustees would normally exercise.

Under Gupta's supervision, the board has allowed larger class sizes for specialized programs for kindergarteners with disabilities, stopped the planned renaming of several schools, and closed some TDSB outdoor education facilities, according to TorontoToday.ca.

The province sent the newly elected trustees a formal notice earlier this week outlining what they cannot do. CTV News obtained the memo. It says trustees may not attend school-based events or enter schools in their official capacity, may not engage with principals, school staff, or school councils, may not issue newsletters or updates to communities, and may not access board resources. All parent and community inquiries must go to the chief executive officer instead.

What the trustees are asking for

The letter asks for a face-to-face meeting with the minister. It does not ask the province to end supervision immediately. Instead, the trustees ask for two things: a clear set of criteria that the board must meet before governance returns to elected trustees, and an explanation of when that return could happen.

"Indefinite supervision without clear parameters prevents trustees from acting on their communities' priorities and leaves families without a meaningful voice in decisions affecting their schools," the letter reads. "It undermines both the mandate given by voters and the accountability that elected representation provides."

The letter names all 12 trustees and was provided to CP24 on November 6.

The minister's response

Emma Testani, the press secretary for Minister Calandra, told CP24 that the minister made clear before the municipal elections that school boards will remain under supervision "for as long as it takes to ensure they are financially stable, well managed, and focused on student success." She said anyone who chose to run for a trustee position did so knowing that supervision would continue.

"For the TDSB, this means establishing a long-term financial plan that ensures public funds are managed responsibly, and resources are directed toward improving student achievement," Testani said.

The minister's office did not say what criteria the board must meet or how long supervision is expected to last.

The 12 trustees elected on October 26

The trustees who signed the letter are: Matias de Dovitiis (Ward 1), Timothy Ellis (Ward 2), Alexis Dawson (Ward 3), Brandon Choi (Ward 4), Jennifer Volk (Ward 5), Stacey Cline (Ward 6), Deborah Williams (Ward 7), Farzana Rajwani (Ward 8), Christopher Mammoliti (Ward 9), Karen Emerson (Ward 10), Ravicha Ravinthiran (Ward 11), and Anu Sriskandarajah (Ward 12).

Each ran on promises to their ward's families. Their platforms covered school safety, student mental health, equity programs, class sizes, and the well-being of children with disabilities. With the board under supervision, they cannot act on those promises while the province holds governance authority.

You can read each trustee's promises on their pages at /on/toronto-2026/tracker.

What supervision has changed at the TDSB

Since Gupta took over, the board has made decisions that some trustees campaigned against. The supervisor allowed larger class sizes in specialized programs for kindergarteners with disabilities, reversed a process to rename schools, and closed outdoor education facilities, TorontoToday.ca reported.

The supervisor also set a direction for the board's budget, which had run a deficit in prior years. The province's stated reason for the supervision was to fix the board's finances and governance. The letter from the trustees does not dispute the financial problems. It asks only that the minister say what a fixed board looks like, and how the board will know when it has reached that point.

The board's annual budget covers 582 schools and 247,000 students, according to the TDSB's own published reporting. Governance decisions at a board of that scale affect tens of thousands of families across Toronto, and the trustees' letter says those families deserve elected representation making those decisions.

What happens next

The minister's office has not set a date for a meeting or said whether one will be arranged. No date has been given for when supervision may end. The TDSB trustees are sworn in under section 6 (1) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, which starts the four-year term on November 15, 2026.

Toronto residents who want to know which TDSB trustee represents their ward can look up their ward on the /on/toronto-2026/races/tdsb page. While trustees remain restricted in their official role, residents can contact them directly through their public information.