SCHOOL BOARD GOVERNANCE

February 28, 2009

The Ontario Council Standing Committee on Education was pleased to submit a brief with comments and recommendations to the Governance Review Committee.The Committee, co-chaired by Rick Johnson and Madeleine Chevalier, was created to address the commitment made by the Government last year to help every student reach his or her potential.

The mandate of the Governance Review Committee is to review ideas on how to improve, modernize and clarify the accountabilities of school boards, chairs, individual trustees, and directors of education.

The government’s five questions, included in the brief are:

1.  What makes good board governance?
2.  What should trustees as a group be accountable for?
3.  What should Directors of Education be accountable for?
4.  What other duties, powers and accountabilities could be clarified in the act?
5.  What would be a reasonable trigger related to student outcomes for the Minister to intervene in a board?

The Education Committee would like to gratefully acknowledge the support of Elizabeth Haynes, Teri Shaw and Myra Willis for their assistance in compiling the data for this brief.

Wendy Taylor
Chair, Standing Committee on Education
CFUW Ontario Council