The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB, known as English-language Public District School Board No. 25 prior to 1999) refers to both the institution responsible for the operation of all English public schools in the city of Ottawa, Ontario and its governing body. Like most school boards, the OCDSB is typically administered by a group of elected trustees and one director selected and appointed by the Board itself. Additionally, annually, two student trustees are selected per provincial regulation.
Since 27 June, 2025, the OCDSB has been under provincial supervision. Its board of trustees is suspended and all decisions regularly made by trustees are made by the provincially appointed supervisor, Robert Plamondon. Student trustees are still elected as of March 2026.
When not in supervision, every four years, within the context of the Ottawa municipal elections, an election is held within each of Ottawa's twelve trustee electoral zones to elect each trustee. Following election and annually thereafter, the board of trustees holds its organizational meeting, where the Board membership elects two of its members to the positions of chair and vice-chair of the Board. Chairs and membership of each of the Board's committees are also determined as part of the organizational meeting. In addition to the twelve trustees, two student trustees are elected by their peers, providing opportunities for the student body to become informed and involved in Board governance.
History
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board was created on 1 January 1998 in accordance with Ontario provincial government legislation including merging of the former adjacent Carleton Board of Education and the Ottawa Board of Education. The headquarters of the amalgamated school district is located at the former headquarters of the Carleton Board of Education at 133 Greenbank Road, Nepean.
Historically, and to this day, the OCDSB is one of the very few school boards in Ontario with an advisory council on the arts providing input and annual reports to the board of trustees.
In 2009–2010 the OCDSB tried to shut down the Alternative program. A group of students and parents from Lady Evelyn Alt teamed up with a trustee and won the Review.[citation needed]
In 2022 a disciplinary panel with the Ontario College of Teachers found former OCDSB teacher Peter Des Brisay guilty of professional misconduct after sexually abusing a former student in the late 1990s.
In June 2025, the provincial government took over the school board, appointing a supervisor in the process. The government cited "mismanagement and poor decision-making", and that the board had "completely depleted its reserves, incurred an accumulated deficit, and plans to use unsustainable proceeds from asset sales to balance its books" as reasons for the takeover. The move came after two trustees had resigned their positions.
Lawsuits
In 2017 a family was awarded approximately $3,000 after winning a lawsuit against the OCDSB over the board's failure to take a student's complaints about bullying seriously.
In 2018 two former students filed lawsuits against the OCDSB for failing its "legal duty to provide for the safety of its students".
In 2019 an investigation was launched to look into what ultimately resulted in three sex offence charges against OCDSB teacher Majed Turk in July 2020. The alleged incidents occurred between September and November 2019.
As of 2020, there were ongoing lawsuits filed against the OCDSB for the sexual abuse of its students by now deceased teacher and Bell High School basketball coach, Donald Greenham.
Organization
The OCDSB has 147 school sites (117 elementary, 25 secondary including the Adult High School, plus five secondary alternate sites). Schools within the OCDSB provide English with Core French, Alternative, Early French Immersion, Middle French Immersion, Late French Immersion, Special Education, IEP's and gifted program.
Finances
The OCDSB has an operating budget of $784.8 million for the 2010–2011 school year. In 2007, the school busses belonging to the OCDSB and the coterminous catholic school board were taken over by a new corporation: The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority (See external link, below)
Demographics
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board is the largest school board in Eastern Ontario, serving students within the City of Ottawa, covering an area of 3,760km2 (1,450sqmi). The OCDSB is the seventh largest district by school population in the province of Ontario. Enrolment as of 31 October 2007 totalled 72,388 students (47,099 elementary and 25,455 secondary).[1]
The District has 2,711 full-time equivalent (FTE) elementary teachers and 1,337 secondary teachers, as of 31 October 2007, with 238 principals and vice-principals. In addition to the full-time teachers, approximately 2,494 teachers are on the district's occasional teachers list. The OCDSB also has 2,059 administrative and support staff of whom 1,817 work in the schools.[1]
The chair of the OCDSB is Lyra Evans.
Trustees
The following is a list of trustees elected to the school board since its creation.
Elizabeth Wyn Wood Secondary Alternate Program, Nepean
Frederick Banting Secondary Alternate Program, Stittsville
Lady Evelyn Alternative, Ottawa
Norman Johnston Secondary Alternate Program, Gloucester
Regina Street Alternative, Ottawa
Richard Pfaff Alternate Program, Ottawa
Riverview Alternative, Ottawa
Urban Aboriginal Alternate Program, Ottawa
Closed
Bronson Avenue Public School (closed 1915; became Borden Public School)
Kent Street (Central) Public School (closed 1966; the school was the first public elementary school to be built in the city and the first to be closed down)
Borden Public School (closed and demolished 1966)
Wellington Street Public School (closed and demolished)
T.P. Maxwell Public School (now Carlington Community and Health Services)
Brewer Park Public School (became Westboro Academy 1998–2019; now vacant)
Parkway Park Public School (now Bishop Hamilton Montessori School)
Percy Street Public School (closed 1968; a fire by an arsonist destroyed the building in 1979; the school was partially demolished expect for the foundation area which still stands today)
Quarries Public School (closed 1980; later became East Gate Alliance Church)
Bel-Air Public School (closed 1980; now École élémentaire publique Charlotte-Lemieux)
Fairfield Public School (closed 1985; became École élémentaire publique Séraphin-Marion until 2002; demolished 2004)
Champlain High School (closed 1993; Connaught Public School used the building in 1993-94 while Connaught's building was getting renovated; now Centre Jules-Léger.)
Confederation High School (closed 1999; now Confederation Education Centre)
McNabb Park Public School (closed 1999; now Richard Pfaff Alternative School)
Queensway Public School (closed 1999; now Joan of Arc Academy)
Whitehaven Public School (closed 1999; became École élémentaire catholique Terre-des-Jeunes until 2008; now École élémentaire catholique d'enseignement personnalisé Édouard-Bond)
City View Public School (became City View Special Education Centre; now Elizabeth Wyn Wood Secondary Alternate Program)
