The board faced a challenging period under supervision, after news broke of trustee misspending by members of the previous board.

But this new board of trustees, with six incumbents and six new trustees chosen in the October election, has shown that they can work together, Alway told The Register.

At the meeting, the elections of Ann Andrachuk as chair and Jo-Ann Davis as vice-chair at a Dec. 1 caucus meeting were confirmed. Andrachuk told about 300 people in attendance that she was "extremely optimistic about the future of the Toronto Catholic District School Board."

“This is a new day for the board," she said.

“You can all be assured that the Toronto Catholic District School Board will be a model of accountability and transparency where ratepayers and parents' voices will be heard, and no child will be left behind.”  

Toronto Auxiliary Bishop William McGrattan led a prayer service before the swearing-in ceremony.

The Catholic school system, McGrattan told the trustees, is a blessing.

"It is a place where faith is nourished, lives are healed, transformed, only because of one blessing, and it is the blessing of faith. Parents, teachers, trustees, we are all stewards of this blessing and we are asked to pass that along to the next generation," McGrattan said.

During the ceremony, trustees declared their commitment to “be faithful to the teachings of the Church, and express our fidelity to the primacy of the Pope and the authority of the magisterium.”