Interview with the Warden - Oct. 9th, 2025

Thursday, 9 October 2025 11:45

The bi-monthly Warden interview on Heart FM had one major theme as Marcus Ryan talked about schools.

OXFORD COUNTY - There is further reaction to a funding story first released by Heart FM.

The Thames Valley District School Board was allocated $10.5 million by the Ministry of Education for the construction of a new school in Thamesford. During his bi-monthly interview on the Heart FM Morning Show, Warden, Marcus Ryan, says this funding is much needed to help further the project.

"The extra money is going to mean that they can proceed with that project, acquire the land, finalize all those deals they've been working on for quite a while, finalize the funding deal and get contracts awarded, and start putting shovels in the ground to get that school rising up into the air."

Ryan adds that the structure of the school was heavily talked about, as Council did not want to see a divide in the Town once there would be two schools. He mentioned that when towns grow, there tends to be a natural divide, so Council and TVDSB worked closely on making sure that did not happen. Once the new school is operational, students from kindergarten to grade 4 will attend there, and Thamesford Public School will transition to grades 5 through 8.

Schooling continued to be a topic during the interview, as Ryan gave his personal opinion on school governance in Ontario. He says curriculum and teacher contracts need to stay with the Ministry of Education, but he would like to see some changes.

"Where our schools go, where schools open and close, where they're added to, where the attendance areas are for kids, and even busing. I think those are things that municipalities do now anyway. Land use, we decide where all that land use goes anyway. I think we'd do a better job, and it'd be locally accountable instead of moving it all off to Queen's Park."

Ryan mentions he feels like there will be changes coming from the Ministry of Education this fall, and he hopes that local decision-making stays. If you would like to listen to the full Morning Show interview with Warden Marcus Ryan, you can do so below.