Twelve OCDSB trustees sworn in Nov. 16 with no official powers

Twelve newly elected Ottawa-Carleton District School Board trustees take their oath at the board office on Nov. 16. They will hold no official powers while the board stays under provincial supervision, which has been in place since June 2025.

Under the ministry's protocol, supervised trustees get no official role, no board email or technology, and no pay. They can forward parent and community inquiries to the board CEO and acknowledge receipt. They cannot officially attend school events or board and committee meetings, engage with staff or principals, or send trustee newsletters.

For a parent on the Bay or Kitchissippi side, that means the zone's new trustee cannot take a seat at a school council meeting. Trustee-elect Emily Quaile, who represents Zone 4, called the move an "overreach" and said she will keep knocking on doors and working with the community unofficially.

Education Minister Paul Calandra's office said the swearing-in was prompted by "recent, concerning comments from newly elected trustees suggesting they will operate outside the normal standards of conduct expected of elected officials." It also said the move "does not restore their governance powers." The office did not say how the ministry will enforce the board's code of conduct on trustees under supervision.

Calandra said in early October he had "no immediate plans" to reinstate trustees' meetings and decision-making, which have been suspended for nearly a year and a half. The previous trustees were each paid about $16,000 a year. Under supervision that pay is suspended, while the supervisor can earn up to $2,000 a day.