Angry parents shout at education minister at fiery Parry Sound meeting

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Furious parents demand answers on delayed Parry Sound school

Lots of anger at fiery town hall meeting in Parry Sound

At a fiery town hall meeting Thursday night in Parry Sound, Ontario’s Education Minister Paul Calandra urged parents to judge him based on the final construction of a new super school in town.

The open-forum meeting was heated at times, with a handful of parents shouting at Calandra as he spoke, demanding answers about the Near North District School Board’s governance and the long-delayed Parry Sound JK-Grade 12 school build.

“There aren’t any clear answers. The blame is still passed around a lot,” said Amy Black, an outspoken parent and one of the leaders of the Parents for Parry Sound Facebook group.

Parent anger has been growing since September, when the new school failed to open on time – a major shock to the community.

Calandra took control of the board in December after a scathing Ministry of Education school board governance review found dysfunction and chaos within the board’s walls, which ultimately led to the new $58 million super school not being ready for the first day of class.

The review determined that not enough regular visits to the construction site prevented anyone from realizing sooner that the project was behind schedule. Some students had to take classes remotely until a plan was in place to accommodate them, while others were learning in a half-demolished school.

School board’s trustees were later removed from their posts, with the province taking direct control.

On Thursday, Black asked Calandra about the “lack of transparency and lack of communication.”

“We feel that you’re swooping in and offering Band-Aid solutions on a problem that’s created by this government,” she said, backed by thunderous applause from the crowd.

The meeting at the Parry Sound High School lasted more than an hour. Calandra sat on stage in front of a gym full of parents, municipal leaders and residents, flanked by Parry Sound-Muskoka MPP Graydon Smith and Jay MacJanet, the school board’s new director of education.

“The focus for me is not dwelling on the past,” MacJanet told reporters.

“It’s going to the future. I’ve been brought in to lead this board to bring trust and hope back so that the public can feel supported and that we’re going in a good direction.”

Calandra told parents that he understands their concerns, saying they’ve been let down and that he’s determined to put the school board and the construction project back on track.

“Judge us by what we accomplish, not (by) what we’re saying tonight,” he said.

“I’m completely ready to be held accountable for what I deliver for the people of this community.”

“I’d like to see who he has in mind as our new supervisor and if the trustees are going to be reinstated,” Black added.

“We still need a local voice.”

Another parent, Shane Reynolds, chimed in and said Parry Sound taxpayers paid “$17 million as of 2023 to Near North.”

“We have one high school. We had four public schools. We look at North Bay, they have three high schools and multiple public schools. They have 62,000 people and I believe they’re paying $6.8 million,” Reynolds said.

“We only had one trustee in the Parry Sound area. How’s that fair?”

Calandra provided an update on construction. He said the school is “90 per cent” complete and that the new building will be ready by September 2026.

Brickwork must be redone

The main issue, he said, involves the exterior brickwork, which was laid incorrectly. It’s going to have to be ripped out and replaced in the spring.

When Calandra assumed control of the board, the original contractor, Van Horne Construction Ltd., was terminated.

The province is in the process of hiring a new general contractor.

“We had five expressions of interest. We are proceeding with interviews for four of them,” Calandra said.

“At the same time, we have a consultant from the Halton Board of Education. They have been with us since December helping us continue with the path forward.”

Several parents expressed concern that, once the school is complete, there won’t be enough room and class sizes will be too large.

Their fears are driven by the closure of nearby Nobel Public School and with another school, McDougall Public School, being transformed into a French-language school, with students from both schools to attend the new school.

Growing population

“Our population is growing in the West Parry Sound area,” Reynolds said.

“To not think of the future and not think of the growth that’s happening now and in the future, I can almost see that we’re going to have to build a new school in five years, easily.”

Calandra told reporters after the town hall that the numbers the ministry has suggest the new school “will be big enough” for the next three school years.

“If schools need to be expanded because enrolment somehow increases, then we step in and we make that happen,” he added.

Former school board director of education Craig Myles was harshly criticized in the 33-page review. It found a widespread perception that he was “a shadow leader.”

The report found he moved out of the main school board office and into an empty school. He also participated in his own job performance reviews, which saw his salary increase from $171,000 in 2020 to more than $303,000 in 2024, a hike of 37.48 per cent.

“He’s no longer with the board,” Calandra said.

“We’ll leave it to others in the board to do that final investigation.”

Many parents said they left the town hall with more questions than answers.

“They came here very unprepared. They didn’t know the numbers,” said parent Nicole Chaput.

“They didn’t know the numbers that the school would fit. They didn’t know the floor plan.”

However, MacJanet said he’s “very confident” that the decisions the province and board make will bring back trust and accountability.

“When it’s all said and done, student achievement, success and well-being will be at the forefront and that will always be our goal,” he said.

Calandra also told the crowd that he plans to remain in control of the board until the school is built and the governance issues are rectified.

“We’re just really hoping, moving forward, that they actually stick to their guns and follow their promises,” Black said.