A mediation session between French-language school boards in Ontario and the Ford government aimed at resolving a lawsuit over school transportation funding ended in failure this week, according to the boards.
We met with the ministry earlier this week to attempt formal mediation to resolve the dispute. Unfortunately, the parties did not reach an agreement. The case will take its course in court
declared the president of the Mon Avenir Catholic School Board, Geneviève Grenier.
Both parties hoped to find a solution to this dispute which has lasted for almost two years and which led last summer to a lawsuit by five school boards, including the two in the Centre-Sud. Both parties are therefore likely heading to trial in this case.
School boards say funding for school transportation is insufficient and endangers the truly equivalent educational experience of French-speaking students.
Transportation by minivans is at the heart of this dispute: these small vehicles which can transport up to seven students are more popular in French-language boards since they cover larger territories.
However, the formula that determines the funding that came into effect in 2023-2024 did not take this mode of transportation into account, deplored the French-language school boards. The formula was changed in time for the current school year, but funding for the vans remains insufficient, boards say.
Many calls for change
Affidavits filed as part of this lawsuit and obtained by - trace the chronology of a series of communications between school boards and the province in the hope that the latter will change its formula.
At the end of November 2023, seven months after the Ministry of Education announced its funding formula for the year 2023-2024, Benoit Fortin, then vice-president of the Viamonde School Board, sent a formal notice to the Minister of Education at the time, Stephen Lecce. He demanded changes to the formula.
Three months later, Assistant Deputy Minister Didem Proulx responded by email on behalf of Minister Lecce
to Mr. Fortin and the director of education, Michel Laverdière. She proposed to continue discussions to analyze the challenges facing the Council
and committed to adjust the new financing framework each year
.
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Benoit Fortin, current president of the Viamonde School Board, held the position of vice-president when he put former Minister of Education Stephen Lecce on notice in November 2023.
Photo : JOEL GALE EYE SHOOT IMAG
During the same period, discussions took place between members of the management of the Mon Avenir Catholic School Board, notably the president, Geneviève Grenier, and the assistant deputy minister, Roxanne Hotte. On November 14, 2023, the President met with Assistant Deputy Minister Proulx with colleagues.
As for the government, which made certain changes during the year 2023-2024, then modified the formula for 2024-2025, it defends its calculations. An official in the ministry’s Enhanced School Board Support Branch responded to the boards in an affidavit sworn in October 2024.
The 2023-2024 formula, affirmed Mehul Mehta, takes into account the unique characteristics of French-language school boards
. He also maintained that the ministry does not impose constraints on school boards and that the province therefore sufficiently funds any type of school transportation, whether yellow buses or vans.
The allegations in the suit have not been proven in court. The Ontario government did not respond to -’s questions since this case is before the court.
