A trustee with the Lambton-Kent District School Board (LKDSB) believes the Ontario government will soon eliminate her role.
Angela Richards shared her concerns after Bill 33: The Supporting Children and Students Act was passed on Wednesday, giving the province more control over school boards.
One way the province can do this is by appointing supervisors to, effectively, do the job that trustees were elected to do.
Richards believes this is a slap in the face to parents and guardians who voted for the people they wanted overseeing their children's education.
"I don't understand how a supervisor is going to be able to maintain all school board and school issues on a daily basis," she said.
In Richard's opinion, having one person looking after an entire school board's responsibilities is impossible. The LKDSB alone has over 60 schools and 22,000 students.
She explained that these schools are split among the trustees, making the job more manageable. She said she personally travels to each of her schools to understand the issues, something that would take much more time and effort if she had to visit each of the LKDSB's locations.
Richards also has concerns about how a supervisor will convey local issues to the province. She used the Dresden Landfill as an example, explaining that the LKDSB's board of trustees agreed to send a letter of concern to the Ministry of Education due to the proposed landfill's proximity to local schools. Richards doesn't know if a government-appointed supervisor would do the same.
"The supervisor isn't going to have a personal commitment or attachment to any school board, school, or community that's going through something that may hinder the students' safety and well-being," she explained.
The province has defended the Act, saying it's needed to ensure each school board uses its finances in the best possible way for students. Five school boards are currently under government supervision after they started running deficits.
Richards agreed that these boards have financial issues that need to be addressed, but argues that the province is using them as ammunition to target all boards.
"I think you hold the trustees accountable for their actions, don't punish the board and its students," she said.
