Ombudsman André Marin now has the jurisdiction to investigate complaints about the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board following the provincial government's appointment of a supervisor for the board.

The Ministry of Education took control of the administration of the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board on Monday. It has appointed Norbert Hartmann as supervisor to oversee the financial management and administration of the board as of Sept. 4, 2012.

Jim Grieve, Assistant Deputy Minister of the Early Learning Division in the Ministry of Education, has been appointed as interim supervisor until then.

While normally the ombudsman does not have jurisdiction over school boards in Ontario, that changes when the government takes direct control. The last time the ombudsman's jurisdiction was extended to school boards was June 2008, after the ministry took charge of the Toronto Catholic District School Board.

Four provinces and one territory in Canada include school boards under ombudsman jurisdiction — British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Yukon Territory.

While the Ontario ombudsman normally has no authority in this area, his office continues to receive serious complaints about school boards that cannot be investigated. Some 119 complaints were received in 2011-2012.