TCDSB INVESTIGATION SERIES - Part 4
The Trustees
Who They Are, What They Do, and What They Have Lost
1. The Human Side of a System Under Siege
Before supervision, trustees were the public’s first point of contact.
They answered emails at midnight.
They sat with families during crises.
They pushed for repairs.
They mediated conflicts.
They attended parish events.
They advocated for funding.
They fought for programs.
They listened when no one else would.
They were not perfect.
No governance model is.
But they were accessible.
They were accountable.
And their authority came directly from the community.
Today, that role exists in name only.
Supervision has stripped away almost everything that made trustees meaningful.
Not because they wanted less responsibility.
But because the Ministry decided they should have less power.
This chapter is not about defending individuals.
It is about documenting what the position was, what it is now, and what Ontario stands to lose if trustees disappear from Catholic education altogether.
2. What Trustees Actually Do
Here is the part the Ministry does not mention when selling the public on “oversight.”
A trustee’s work includes:
• handling hundreds of parent emails a week
• facilitating conflict resolution between families and administration
• advocating for repairs, safety upgrades, and staffing
• ensuring Special Education needs are met
• engaging parish priests and community leaders
• navigating transportation issues
• responding to student well-being concerns
• pushing back on unfair ministry directives
• attending school events, masses, and community meetings
• voting on budgets and capital plans
• representing families who cannot navigate bureaucracies alone
Trustees are the only elected officials who deal directly with parents every single day.
For many families, especially in Catholic communities, they are the most accessible public figure in their lives.
Their removal is not a governance tweak.
It is the removal of the only democratic voice parents have inside the system.
3. Who They Are: A Cross-Section of Catholic Toronto
TCDSB trustees are not abstract political figures.
They are a mix of:
• parish volunteers
• parents
• former teachers
• community organizers
• first-generation immigrants
• long-standing Catholic leaders
• voices for marginalized families
• advocates for cultural and linguistic communities
• people with deep ties to Catholic parishes and schools
These are individuals who understand the system from the inside.
People who speak multiple languages.
People who grew up in the schools they now govern.
People who carry both community history and community expectation.
They also come from wards with dramatically different needs.
Scarborough does not look like Etobicoke.
North York does not look like midtown.
Centralizing authority in Queen’s Park erases these differences.
4. What They Have Lost Under Supervision
When the Supervisor arrived, trustees lost:
• their vote on the budget
• their ability to advocate publicly
• their ability to criticize provincial decisions
• their ability to make spending decisions
• their ability to guarantee community consultation
• their freedom to move motions without interference
• their authority to intervene for families
• their credibility in the eyes of parents
Trustees were told to “remain focused on student well-being,” while the province quietly removed every tool that allows them to influence student well-being.
The Supervisor has the final say on:
• motions
• amendments
• policies
• spending
• staffing allocations
• capital planning
• communications
• identity-linked decisions
Trustees remain the face of the system, but their hands are tied behind their backs.
5. The Culture of Fear and Exhaustion
Trustees across the city have described the internal climate the same way:
• burned out
• frightened to speak
• worried about their reputations
• overwhelmed by parent emails they cannot act on
• unsure what they are allowed to say
• publicly blamed for problems they no longer control
• targeted when they speak out
• carrying emotional burdens with no authority to fix the issues
This is not governance.
This is political containment.
Trustees absorb public anger while the Ministry holds the power.
6. Why the Ministry Wants Trustees Out of the Way
Here is the uncomfortable truth.
Trustees get in the way of political narratives.
They question funding.
They challenge cuts.
They defend parents.
They expose contradictions.
They make noise when programs fail.
They highlight pressures the Ministry does not want exposed.
Removing trustees is not about efficiency.
It is about removing resistance.
Expenses are the excuse.
Control is the motive.
7. The Hidden Cost: Parents Lose Their Voice
When trustees lose authority:
• parents lose advocacy
• students lose representation
• Catholic identity loses defenders
• communities lose a direct line to governance
• ministry decisions go unchallenged
• cultural differences inside wards disappear
• elections become symbolic rather than functional
The new “Student and Family Support Offices” mandated by the Ministry prove this point.
Instead of contacting their elected trustee, parents are now directed to a provincial desk.
The message is clear.
Local democracy is optional.
Central control is not.
8. Why Trustees Still Matter
Even under supervision, trustees remain the only people in the system who:
• know their communities
• understand parish life
• hear directly from parents
• represent cultural communities with precision
• carry Catholic identity inside their wards
• have long-term local memory
• bring real lived experience to the table
Their value is not symbolic.
It is functional.
And if they disappear permanently, Catholic governance will be defined by bureaucracy instead of community.
Closing Line
Trustees were never the problem.
They were the warning sign.
Silencing them does not fix the system.
It only hides what is breaking.
This concludes Part 4 and completes the four-part series.
Tomorrow the question becomes simple.
What happens next for Catholic governance in Ontario?