After months of controversy, trustees with the embattled York Region District School Board have voted for change.

The 12 trustees voted in a secret ballot to oust chair Anna DeBartolo and replace her with Loralea Carruthers, the trustee for East Gwillimbury and Whitchurch-Stouffville, in a meeting at board headquarters in Aurora Monday night.

The results, which were met by loud applause in a room packed with parents, removed DeBartolo from the chair position she had held for several years.

Carruthers thanked DeBartolo for her years of service and pledged to work together moving forward.

“I would like to thank parents who have shown tremendous advocacy and patience on behalf of their children,” Carruthers added. “Those who ensured that their voices were heard even when that seemed difficult.

“Please rest assured that the board has heard your concerns and set itself on a new path tonight.”

Parents in attendance said they felt it was important to be there to remind trustees who they were representing.

“We are here to see a leadership change in this YRDSB drama,” said parent Syed Abdul. “This is just scratching the surface, but it is a great beginning for an entirely new chapter.”

Richmond Hill Trustee Corrie McBain was voted in for vice-chair.

The vote for chair comes after months of controversy at the board, including families who said complaints of racism were not dealt with, a principal who posted Islamophobic links on her public Facebook page, and as trustees jetted overseas on questionable trips — some visiting the same country for a second, even a third time, on the public dime.

The board has been in such turmoil in recent months that Education Minister Mitzie Hunter has demanded it produce a report in early January on how it is handling incidents of racism and intolerance, as well as trustee transparency about the costs and purpose of travel.

“I’ve heard from the community, from students, from parents,” Hunter told the Star Monday. “My expectations of the York board and its leadership remain the same — that when students come to school . . . my expectation is that they are safe, their well-being is a priority and that all of our schools are safe and inclusive. That’s what I’ve made clear to the board.”

Last Friday, a diverse coalition called on the board to be more open as they announced a new human rights complaint alleging students are suffering racial and religious discrimination at school. The board said it cannot comment on the rights complaint.

Hunter said Monday the complaint “underscores the urgency of the issue and the importance of the issue, and how parents are feeling. So this is something that the board and its leadership must pay attention to.”

Shernett Martin, the director of the Vaughan African Canadian Association said after the vote she looks forward to meeting with Carruthers to work for “the betterment of all of our children.”

Before Monday’s vote, families had been pressuring the board to change its leadership, including in a letter sent to trustees by York Region Parents for Education.

DeBartolo had announced her intention to run again for chair at a meeting last week, sources say — one in which she brought a security guard after claims she and director J. Philip Parappally received threats.

Under DeBartolo’s leadership, Parappally was granted an unprecedented 10-year contract, with a guaranteed job as a senior staffer once the contract is up — basically a job for life under a new director, and again unheard of in education circles.

Every year at this time, school boards in Ontario hold votes for chair and vice-chair, appointments that last one year. The meetings are public, though the vote is by secret ballot.

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Former decade-long York board trustee Joel Hertz has told the Star the board should consider hiring an integrity commissioner to restore public confidence.

Previously, director of education, Parappally has said: “We all share a goal to create learning environments that are safe and welcoming for all students and staff. As one of the most diverse and highest performing jurisdictions in the province, our achievement comes in concert with equity and well-being.”

The Peel District School Board also held its annual vote for chair on Monday night, with Janet McDougald again taking the helm. She is believed to be the longest-serving chair in Ontario.

In her speech, she said equity and inclusion are the board’s priorities — “in fact, in the next decade, it is the most important work an elected board can do, and our community, and history will judge us on the measure of our continuous progress.”

The Peel board recently announced a long-term plan to help black males who are struggling in the system. It is also launching a student census, collecting information about race, sexual identity so that, like the Toronto District School Board, it can track things like graduation rates and suspension and expulsion rates.