The Local president of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) is speaking out following a third resignation by a trustee on the Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB).
Trustee Nancy Armstrong, who represents Leamington and Pelee Island, resigned on Nov. 7, and said her decision came after months of reflection and a troubling review of committee materials on Kingsville’s school naming process.
Armstrong had previously been sanctioned for comments she made on a local podcast criticizing the naming of the Kingsville school.
Ron Le Clair stepped down on Sept. 15 citing significant changes to the governance landscape for education.
Last November, Sarah Cipkar exited stating that she wanted to focus on other personal and professional responsibilities.
Mario Spagnuolo, local ETFO president, said seeing this many resignations on one school board would raise red flags.
"What we need right now is leadership. Trustees are suppose to be advocates for quality education and when an area like Leamington no longer has a trustee for a time period that's concerning. LaSalle and Amherstburg similar. They need to fill Ron Le Clair's role," said Spagnuolo.
Spagnuolo said he believes the resignations play into the Ontario government's narrative that the trustee role is dysfunctional and should be replaced with provincial oversight.
"I wouldn't be surprised if [Premier Doug] Ford and [education minister Paul] Calandra took this on and made this a spectacle of what is happening in public education. It distracts from the real issues that I know my members want to be talked about and that is class size and class composition. The fact that we have more and more students with needs coming into our system and not enough support," he said.
Spagnuolo said trustee responsibilities have been slowly eroding and called for that trend to be reversed.
"The pendulum needs to swing in the other direction. I think we should be giving more and more power to local voices to make local decisions based on local priorities," Spagnuolo said.
The board hasn’t said yet how it will fill the vacancies.
The next election is set for Oct. 26, 2026.
-With files from AM800's Mid-Morning Show with guest host Brian Masse and CTV Windsor