Bob Plamondon, the provincial supervisor appointed to manage the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, is conducting a series of town hall meetings with school council chairs as part of an innovative "pilot project" to understand family concerns firsthand.
Trustee Roles Suspended Amid Provincial Supervision
Plamondon, an auditor and governance expert, was appointed by the province in June 2024 over concerns about financial "mismanagement" at the board. His appointment means the elected trustees who normally help parents navigate the school system have had their decision-making powers suspended, a situation affecting all five Ontario boards currently under provincial supervision.
Direct Engagement with Parent Representatives
The supervisor has been holding meetings with school council chairs across the board's six superintendencies, with three sessions already completed and three more scheduled before year's end. Each meeting attracts between 25 and 30 participants who engage in open dialogue without a preset agenda.
"We go around the table and ask all of the parent council chairs to introduce themselves and to put on the table their most pressing issue that they want to talk about," Plamondon explained during a meeting with the OCDSB's parent involvement committee.
The format allows participants to build on each other's concerns during 90-minute discussions that Plamondon describes as genuine town hall meetings.
Key Issues Raised by Parents
Several consistent themes have emerged from these sessions:
- School funding and budget concerns
- Need for more education assistants in classrooms
- Improvements to school facilities
- Classroom safety issues
- Student transportation challenges
Parents have also questioned the status of the controversial elementary program review, including boundary changes that were scheduled for September 2026 but have since been cancelled. Many are seeking clarity about what comes next during this period of provincial supervision.
Scott Walker, chair of the Queen Mary Street Public School council, praised the town hall approach. "What I noticed was there's a lot of overlap in the questions, but there was also a lot of very individual things that kind of came through that I don't think we would have heard about if it hadn't been for that platform."
Plamondon considers these meetings innovative and believes they represent a unique approach within Ontario's education system. Survey results indicate participants have been "thrilled" with the opportunity to voice concerns directly to the board's supervisor.
