Oxford County warden lobbying for municipal governments to take on some school-board responsibilities

Oxford County Warden Marcus Ryan. oxfordcounty.ca photo

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Oxford County Warden Marcus Ryan recently took to social media to share an idea proposing that municipal governments take on some of the responsibilities currently managed by school boards.

The county’s top elected official is a longtime critic of how boards are governed.

“It’s no secret that I think changes are needed to our school governance system, but a loss of local democracy by a transfer of decision-making to Toronto is not the answer,” he said in the video. “The good news is we can both change the governance system and keep a local democratic voice.”

Ryan admitted the local decision-making performance by the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) has been consistently flawed, but he is concerned about Toronto bureaucrats stepping in.

“If it is replaced with someone at Queen’s Park deciding where a school goes in Oxford County, that’s not better,” he said.

In April 2025, Ontario’s Education Minister Paul Calandra announced the government would place the TVDSB under supervision due to what was described as financial mismanagement and misalignment of priorities. The move followed provincial investigations into TVDSB’s finances, including criticisms of spending on retreats for board officials and other discretionary expenses while facing budget shortfalls. The province has reduced the power of elected trustees and shifted authority over many day-to-day decisions to an appointed supervisor.

Ryan said he would have no interest in getting involved with curriculum decisions or labour negotiations, but he added schools are part of community planning, something local governments do every day.

“If we want to have a local democratic voice for our school boards, we already have local democratically elected councils. Oxford County administers a $400-million budget and the school board’s budget is over $900 million. The county portion is probably $100-200 million. We could add that on to an Oxford County budget.”

He added that one of the province’s main concerns is fiscal responsibility, noting that many school boards are currently running deficits, while municipalities have maintained a strong track record of managing funds prudently and spending taxpayer dollars wisely.

“Oxford County, for example, has a AAA credit rating for a third year in a row. We manage physical assets like buildings and properties very well. The province of Ontario does not have a AAA credit rating. If you are looking for financially safe hands and local democratically elected people who are accountable, I think we already have an answer to those things.”

Changes would need to be made to Ontario’s Education and Municipal Acts for Ryan’s idea to come to fruition, something he doesn’t take lightly. He added his lobbying has already begun and is gaining some traction.

“I have talked to mayors and wardens in the Thames Valley area and so far, every one of them is at least open to the idea. They see the value in gymnasiums that are only utilized during school hours for part of the year. There are soccer fields we duplicate. A lot of them share the same frustrations towards building schools in the wrong places, closing a school and then five years later, they come back and say enrolment is up and they buy land to build a new school.”

Ryan added if the province decided to embrace his idea, taxpayers would pay less in property and education taxes, and other shared spaces, such as parking lots and classrooms, could be better utilized by the entire community, not just students.

“In 30 or 40 years, the amount of duplication of physical assets would be dramatically reduced and the amount of access for residents for similar tax dollars would be dramatically higher. I have talked to people about this for so long, I just think it’s a no-brainer.”

Ryan said his next steps are to keep talking to other councillors, mayors, wardens, MPPs and ministers.

“I have been having those conversations, and I will continue to have them.”