TORONTO (CCN) — For staff at four school boards across Ontario, back-to-school season is one shrouded in confusion and uncertainty as they return to work under the supervision of government-appointed supervisors.
But teachers have vowed to keep up professional standards expected of them in delivering faith-based education in the classroom despite the uncertainty surrounding the management in board offices.
Among the school boards under supervision are two of the province’s largest, the Toronto Catholic and Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Boards. Both were placed under provincial supervision to oversee their finances and operations after investigations found accumulated deficits at the end of June.
Frank Benedetto was appointed supervisor of the TCDSB after the Ministry of Education assigned Deloitte LLP to assess the school board’s financial position following “concerns of the board’s significant accumulated deficit” in May 2025. The report found that the TCDSB was projecting an accumulated deficit of $75.2 million by the end of the 2024‑25 school year.
Financial executive Rick Byers was appointed supervisor of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic board after a report found the board was at a “significant risk of defaulting on its financial obligations.” The DPCDSB was said to have accumulated a deficit projected to increase from $97.8 million at the end of the 2023–24 school year to $106 million at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
While the supervisors will focus on addressing the deteriorating financial positions of the boards and identify how each can implement savings measures and improve operational efficiencies, no further information on how those goals will be pursued has been released. The uncertainty has caused some unease among Catholic school staff and their supporters.
“ We have been trying to get answers so we can try and give our teachers information, whether there’s going to be something different for them that arises out of supervision, but we can’t get answers on that. That makes us unable to help deal with any anxiety teachers have around that because we just don’t know,” said René Jansen in de Wal, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association.
“On the other hand, that means that they go ahead as per normal until told otherwise, and we just pretend that it’s a normal school year, and maybe it in fact will be.”
The Catholic Register reached out to the Ontario’s Ministry of Education to speak with supervisors Benedetto and Byers about what the new school year will look like under their supervision, but was informed that, while focused on their mandates, neither was available for interviews.
Amid the suspense of what Catholic education at the two boards may look like this September, Jansen in de Wal said teachers will continue their mission of providing faith-based schooling for students, no matter the environment.
“Teachers are already preparing their curriculum materials in classrooms as per normal, and it’s always great to feel the excitement. Getting to meet the kids again, that’s the part that fills teachers’ hearts. For any anxiety, they always have this excitement about the new year as well,” he said.
“There’s the reality of that supervision, but it doesn’t have a direct impact, as our teachers are working mostly with their colleagues in the departments in their schools. Either way, we are all looking forward to getting to the first day of school and getting everything in place.”
While unable to fully decipher how supervisors will go about their goal of improving operational efficiencies, Jansen in de Wal stressed his hopes for a collaboration of sorts between the ministry and the teachers themselves, an avenue he believes would result in the best outcome for all involved — including the students.
“ We’ve reached out to the ministry, and we’ve tried to reach out to the supervisors to make clear that teachers have a wealth of experience and expertise, which can help us get things done so much better,” he said.
“Even if we’re not keen on something that’s coming down the pipe, we want to get it right. We’re hoping the ministry is equally interested in collaborating, and the supervisors can see that it might be worthwhile talking with teachers and enlisting their expertise. A primary concern is student well-being, and that is what we’re interested in. Looking those kids in the eye on the first day of school and having it be a good experience for them every year.”
The Register reached out to the TCDSB and DPCDSB with requests to connect with each board’s respective director of education. Both responded that media concerns surrounding supervision have been deferred to the ministry at the ministry’s request.
The Ontario Association of Parents in Catholic Education also noted that information surrounding the decision has been quiet, saying it would be reaching out to the minister when school starts, with the hopes of gaining more information.
