NOTICE TO PARENTS
(Bill 157 - Highlights)
Based on the recommendations of the December 2008 SSAT
report, the government passed Bill 157 (Keeping Our Kids Safe at
School Act) which comes into force on February 1, 2010.
Bill 157
Ø
Requires all board
employees to report to the principal if they become aware that a student may
have engaged in an activity for which the student must be considered for
suspension or expulsion.
Ø
Requires principals to
contact the parents of victims of such incidents unless:
§ the victim is 18 years old or over;
§ the victim is 16 or 17 years old and has withdrawn from parental
control; or
§ in the opinion of the principal, doing so would put the victim at risk
of harm from the parent
What must be disclosed to parents:
Ø When notifying the parent/guardian of a victim, section 300.3(4) of the
Education
Act requires a principal to disclose the following:
·
the nature of the incident
that resulted in harm to the student;
·
the nature of the
harm to the student; and
·
the steps taken to protect the
student’s safety, including the nature of any discipline in response to the
incident.
Ø
Principals must not
share the name of the aggressor or any other identifying or personal
information with the parents of the victim beyond what is listed above. For
example, a principal may share that the aggressor received a suspension or that
the aggressor’s parents have been called, but may not share information
regarding a referral to counselling or any other personal information.
Ø Activities leading to possible suspension must be reported to the
principal:
·
uttering a threat to
inflict serious bodily harm on another person;
·
possessing alcohol or
illegal drugs;
·
being under the
influence of alcohol;
·
swearing at a teacher
or at another person in a position of authority;
·
committing an act of
vandalism that causes extensive damage to school
·
property at the
pupil’s school or to property located on the premises of the pupil’s school;
·
bullying; or
·
any other activity that is an
activity for which a principal may suspend a pupil under a policy of the
board.
Notice to Parents
Ø These activities include incidents that occur while at school, at a
school-related activity or in circumstances where the activity will have a
negative impact on the school climate.
Ø The following is a scenario of how an incident that occurs off school
property can have a negative impact on the school climate and, thus, must be
considered for suspension:
- Student A and student B attend the same school. Student A has
received
several offensive emails from student B over a period of time which were copied
to several other students in the school. Student A is now afraid/embarrassed
to come to school for fear of further embarrassment/confrontation.
·
In this case of
cyber-bullying, a staff member who becomes aware of this situation must report
it to the principal.
Activities
Leading to Suspension Pending Possible Expulsion
Ø Activities leading to suspension pending possible expulsion must be reported to the principal:
·
possessing a weapon, including possessing a
firearm;
·
using a weapon to cause
or to threaten bodily harm to another person;
·
committing physical
assault on another person that causes bodily harm requiring treatment by a
medical practitioner;
·
committing sexual
assault;
·
trafficking in
weapons or in illegal drugs;
·
committing robbery;
·
giving alcohol to a
minor; or
·
any other activity that, under a
policy of a board, is an activity for which a principal must suspend a pupil
and conduct an investigation to determine whether to recommend to the board
that the pupil be expelled.
Ø
These activities
include incidents that occur while at school, at a school related activity or
in circumstances where the activity will have a negative impact on the school
climate.
Ø
All board employees
including teaching and non-teaching staff must report these incidents to the
principal.
Ø Boards must also include bus driver reporting requirements in their
transportation policies and contracts.
Notice to Parents
Ø Reporting requirements must be clearly communicated to board employees,
bus drivers, students and parents. When reporting, board employees must:
·
consider the safety
of others and the urgency of the situation in reporting the
incident no later than the end of the school day;
·
confirm all reports
to the principal in writing using the ministry form “Safe Schools Incident
Reporting Form Part I”; and
·
if a principal
decides that action is required as a result of an incident:
- a copy of the form with documentation
indicating the action taken will be
filed in the
appropriate student’s Ontario Student Record (OSR).; and
- the
names of all the other students appearing on the form (aggressors and
victims) must be removed except the name of the student in whose OSR the
form is going.
Ø If no action is taken towards the aggressor, the report is not to go in
the student’s
OSR.
Ø Nothing about the incident is to go into the victim’s OSR unless the victim/parent(s)
of the victim specifically request that this is done.
Ø All board employees must take all allegations of gender-based violence,
homophobia, sexual harassment, and inappropriate sexual behaviour (PPM 145) and
bullying (PPM 144) seriously and act in a timely, sensitive and supportive
manner.
Ø Board employees working directly with students must support all
students, including those who disclose/report such incidents, by:
·
providing contact
information about professional supports and making this information readily
available to students who wish to discuss issues of healthy relationships,
gender identity, and sexuality;
·
ensuring board
policies and procedures address what schools are expected to do to support
these students including the development of specific student plans to protect
the victim; and
·
Outlining a process
for parents to follow when they are not satisfied with the supports that their
children receive.
Ø
To
obtain copies of the Board Procedures pertaining to Bill 157 please contact your
school principal or visit our website at www.tncdsb.on.ca.