The Ford government is restricting public access to school board committee meetings.
CCityNews has learned that the province’s education minister has directed school boards under provincial jurisdiction, including the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), to block livestreams of their monthly meetings.
The chair of the TDSB’s special education advisory committee (SPEAC), David Lepofsky, says the government has given no reason for arbitrarily banning live streaming, and this change will be particularly difficult for vulnerable families who can’t attend meetings in person.
“This can only make things harder for beleaguered parents of students with disabilities/special education needs to press for improvements in an education system that already treats them like second-class citizens,” Lepofsky said.
Lepofsky noted Monday night’s SPEAC meeting was the first in half a decade to not be recorded. “This is a real barrier to openness, to transparency, to accountability,” he said.
Parents say the decision took them by surprise, and they fear the government is attempting to block access to information and suppress their voices.
“All school boards are underfunded for special education,” said Michelle Aarts, a parent and TDSB trustee for Beaches-East York. “It makes it that much harder for people to advocate if you take away information, it makes it harder for them to pull those numbers together and show how bad the situation is.”
“Someone with a child with special education needs isn’t necessarily going to be able to leave the house,” she added.
“I made this decision to maintain meetings that are productive, professional, and focused on improving student success and achievement, rather than serving as a forum for political commentary. At the same time, I ordered all meetings to remain open to the public with hybrid participation options with public posting of agendas, minutes, and decisions,” Education Minister Paul Calandra said in a statement sent to CityNews on Tuesday afternoon.
In an earlier statement, a spokesperson for Calandra said that “all committee meetings remain open to the public. Committee members and delegates can still participate remotely when necessary, and all are welcome to attend in person.”
The spokesperson’s statement went on to say that minutes, agendas and decisions from all committees are posted publicly “to ensure transparency and accessibility for families and the broader community.”
The change also comes as the TDSB’s new government supervisor faces backlash for increasing some class sizes for special needs students.
“Teachers are telling us the classrooms are feeling unsafe,” said Alexa Gilmour, NDP MPP for Parkdale-High Park. “When you have non-verbal students with high medical needs, you cannot cut corners.”
Opposition critics at Queen’s Park believe that this is another way the Ford government is silencing parent voices, after first removing trustee powers at five Ontario school boards.
“It’s shocking,” said Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles. “It’s consistent with exactly what we’ve been concerned about – that once the minister and his supervisors are in there controlling things, parent voices and transparency will be eliminated.”