A new twist in the ongoing spat between the Ford government and school board trustees. Education Minister Paul Calandra has been hammering school boards, accusing them of wasting money, but now it is his spending that is coming under scrutiny.
Trustees tell CityNews Calandra is using poor judgment when it comes to public funds, highlighting questionable expenses such as barbeques costing tens of thousands of dollars that could otherwise be spent in classrooms.
Since 2023, trustees cite $2,223 for pancake breakfasts and $11,863 for Santa Claus parade expenses. But the expense that is drawing the most criticism is a $23,000 community barbecue last year, an event that he holds annually.
“I do think he’s hypocritical,” says Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) trustee Maria Rizzo. “He shouldn’t have had it when he’s going after school trustees and their expenses. I mean, if this is the best that he can do, take your shots, do whatever you want, but at some point you’re going to have to talk about the real issue, which is chronic underfunding of education.”
There is also an expenditure of $5,753 for stays in Toronto hotels, despite the fact that Calandra lives in Markham, a 30-minute drive from the city.
The Education Minister’s office tells CityNews the minister is confident his expenses stand up to scrutiny, explaining the minister lives just outside the threshold for the MPP housing benefit, and will occasionally stay in Toronto hotels during late-night sittings of the Legislature.
“Community events such as the Strawberry Festival Pancake Breakfast and the annual Community BBQ are long-standing traditions in Stouffville,” his press secretary said in a statement.
“It is not comparable to equate those events, which are open to all residents, with the kinds of personal expenses some trustees have billed to taxpayers. Receipts for Apple TV subscriptions, casino meals, or late-night food orders speak for themselves.”
Calandra has already taken away trustee powers at five Ontario school boards, replacing them with government-appointed supervisors, and he’s threatened to eliminate the role entirely by the end of the year. Trustees at the TCDSB say they plan to explore legal avenues they can take to try and stop him.
“He should be ashamed of what he is doing to democratically elected people,” said Rizzo. “My head is still spinning that people who are elected can be taken out even though they are elected.”
Meanwhile, one of the supervisors appointed to oversee the Toronto District School Board is facing criticism for increasing class sizes for several programs that include students with disabilities, something trustees had previously voted against.
The NDP says Rohit Gupta’s decision will do nothing to alleviate the problem of waitlists while putting children with disabilities and special needs at risk.
“Cutting corners in our schools will only make classrooms more unsafe for teachers and students with disabilities that require attentive supervision that is only truly achievable with lower student-to-teacher ratios,” MPPs Chandra Pasma (Ottawa–Nepean West) and Alexa Gilmour (Parkdale–High Park) said in a statement.
“What we need is more funding for our schools so we can train and hire more teachers and education workers, not cheap solutions that will result in more chaos in our classrooms.”
CityNews reached out to Gupta for comment but had yet to receive a response.
