Bruno Iannicca elected chair of Dufferin-Peel Catholic board

At its inaugural meeting at the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board’s Catholic Education Centre, trustees elected long-time Mississauga Ward 7 trustee Bruno Iannicca as chair of the 11-member board.

Iannicca was first elected to the board in 1991 and over the past 15 years, has served in leadership capacities on various board committees, including vice chair of the Program & Faith Committee, vice-chair of the

Administration & Finance Committee, vice-chair of the Contracts Negotiation Committee and most recently, as chair of the Administration & Finance Committee.

Mississauga Wards 9, 10 trustee Esther O’Toole, like Iannicca, a 15-year trustee, was elected vice-chair. O’Toole also has extensive leadership experience on the board, including having served two previous years as vice chair.

Iannicca has a BA degree in Commerce and Economics from the University of Toronto, and a diploma in Management Studies from Sheridan College. The senior service specialist at Canada Post is active in the community as a youth hockey coach. He assumes the chair’s position during a unique and challenging period for Dufferin-Peel.

The board has a projected 2006-07 deficit of approximately $7.5 million and is under the financial control of a supervisor appointed by the province. The supervisor has a mandate to bring the board into a balanced budget position within two years. This situation effectively restricts trustee governance to non-financial matters until the budget is balanced.

“Those of us who are returning trustees have been operating for the past two months under government supervision, but we are obviously sailing in uncharted waters as far as the new board is concerned,” said Iannicca. “And, while we will get to a balanced budget position one way or another, we again call on the province to accelerate the resolution of chronic underfunding and the dysfunctional provincial funding formula that have hamstrung our board and others.

“Budget issues notwithstanding, our role as trustees is to be the guardians of Catholic education in our community. In my role as chair of the board, let me assure you that we will be tenacious on this point.”

Also, at the meeting, the board agreed to defer election of the chairs and vice chairs of its five standing committees to the next scheduled meeting dates of those committees.

The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board is one of the largest school boards in Ontario with approximately 89,000 students in 141 schools located throughout Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon and Orangeville. The board is also one of the largest employers in the region with approximately 10,000 employees.