The Ontario Association of School Business Officials (OASBO) is proud to congratulate Nancy Culham on being named the recipient of the 2026 McCordic Award.

Presented annually, the McCordic Award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated exceptional leadership, dedication, and service to the school business profession and to OASBO. Through her commitment, professionalism, and willingness to support colleagues across the sector, Nancy has made a lasting impact on Ontario’s education community.

Nancy's contributions have helped advance collaboration, knowledge sharing, and excellence within school board administration. Her leadership and commitment to supporting both her peers and the broader education sector embody the values that the McCordic Award represents.

The award was presented during the OASBO Annual Conference in Niagara Falls, where colleagues and friends gathered to celebrate Nancy’s many accomplishments and contributions.

On behalf of the OASBO Board of Directors and membership, congratulations to Nancy Culham on this well-deserved recognition and thank you for your outstanding service to the profession.

In response to increasing calls for cost-effective, community-based climate and equity solutions, the Ontario Association of School Business Officials (OASBO) commissioned the High School Transit Pass Program: An Investment Case, through the Council of School Business Officials of Ontario Collaborative Effectiveness & Efficiency Project Fund. The goal: to share concrete evidence with school boards and municipalities across Ontario and beyond on how free youth transit and systematic training can deliver measurable social, environmental, and financial returns.

At the heart of this report is Kingston’s innovative High School Transit Pass Program. Since its launch in 2012, Kingston’s program has combined training for all Grade 9 students with fare-free access to public transit throughout high school. The program is widely recognized as one of Canada’s first and most effective models in this space. Importantly, this report, developed by Limestone Analytics, was designed to evaluate Kingston’s program and act as an open-source knowledge-sharing tool for communities exploring youth transit partnerships.

The findings are compelling. Analyzing data from 2012 to 2019, the report reveals that, under conservative assumptions, the Kingston program generated nearly 196,000 additional youth transit rides annually, displacing approximately 72,000 car trips, saving 10,000 hours of caregiver time, reducing 70 tonnes of CO₂ emissions per year, and resulting in 16,000 fewer absences. These environmental and mobility gains translated into approximately $2 million in annual societal benefits, with a benefit-cost ratio of 3.6 to 1, meaning that for every dollar spent, over three dollars in value was created for society.

Crucially, the report also highlights the central role of training, arguing that teaching youth how to use transit is as vital as making it free. Students rode more, gained confidence and independence, and increased access to after-school programs, jobs, and services. The analysis found that training alone played a pivotal role in long-term ridership uptake.

As more communities seek scalable, climate & equity-aligned investments, this report underscores the value of municipal-school board collaboration. It offers a clear pathway forward, backed by data and experience, to build healthier, more mobile, and more equitable communities.

Download the full report