Response from the Ministry of Education

Well it is official, the Ministry has NO power over school boards.   School boards are publicly funded institutions with absolutely NO watchdog.  You might join your schools' parents council, but parent councils have no "teeth"/ power, you could go to your school Trustees, but they claim to be held by Bill 177 therefore as you will see in the following letter who the sole power has been left with, for us here in Ottawa who are part of the public system it lies with only two people.

Since Ottawa Carleton District School Board is averaging 8- 13 years to review their policies that relate to child safety, I continue to have hope that the entire school board system could be change at the Ministry level quicker than fighting issues at the local level.  A 731.1 million dollar budget with 70,000 students and NO WATCH DOG in place for this school board or ANY school boards within Ontario.

Every complaint against a nurse is addressed by an independent committee, complaints against doctors, complaints against Police services, even inmates have a watchdog with the Ontario Ombudsman, where is a watchdog for our children ?  


Here is the response from the Minister of Education:

December 21, 2011

Thank you for your letter about criminal records checks for volunteers in some school boards in the Ottawa area.  I appreciate the opportunity to respond.

Let me begin by assuring you that our government is committed to a safe school environment.  However, I would like to clarify the relationship between school boards and the Ministry of Education.  The role of the ministry is to determine the general directions and policies related to education for all of Ontario's publicly funded schools.   Although general policies are established by the Education Act, school boards, as legally constituted statutory corporations under the Act, are responsible for delivering programs and operating their schools by setting local policies and procedures.

While I appreciate being made aware of this matter, your concerns do fall under the jurisdiction of the local school board and should continue to be addressed at the local level.

I understand that an education officer from the Ottawa Regional Office was in contact with you in September and discussed your concerns at some length.   In addition to outlining the role of the ministry and that of boards, a number of potential courses of action were highlighted for you.  These courses of action included further discussion with school board staff, presentations to school councils and/or the board, as well as the option of obtaining legal advice.

I encourage you to continue your discussions with the Associate Director of Education, Superintendent Walter Piovesan, at 613-596-8211 extension 8252, or by email at water.piovesan@ocdsb.ca, or with the Director of Education, Dr. Jennifer Adams, at 613-596-8211 extension 8490, or by email at jennifer.adams@ocdsb.ca.

Thank you again for your valued input.

Yours truly,

Laurel Broten
Minister


(please contact me if you wish me to forward the official letter onto you.  @heathertwins - twitter )


Below is a LIST of Ontario  SCHOOL BOARDS -- see where your school board is listed :  

ALL Catholic & Public School Boards in Ontario -- NO Criminal checks for volunteers in our schools !!!

There are still school boards in Ontario which allow volunteers who have NOT had a criminal background check !!! 


 69 school boards have a strong policy that requires community & parents to have a criminal check who volunteer with students in our schools. 
9 school boards (two are in Ottawa- Capital of Canada) have a poor policy for school safety and allow some volunteers who have NOT had a criminal check. (often parents, grandparents).    There is 1 unknown listed at the end of this list I am waiting for a response from them.     This is the updated list that includes both Catholic and Public school boards in Ontario. (some French boards are included)  

The school boards I spoke with were SHOCKED that there were any school boards that continued to allow this.  Please feel free to contact any school boards listed - phone numbers and websites are listed on the Ministry of Education website.   


There is no legal requirement for our schools to have criminal checks for all volunteers.  (see further for legal details)   There is no watch dog agency for school boards.   


***Upper Grand District school board is working towards safer practices but the final decision is still left up to the Principal to decide. (see their policies). ***

THE SCHOOL BOARDS THAT REQUIRE  CRIMINAL CHECKS FOR ALL VOLUNTEERS	SCHOOL BOARDS THAT DO NOT REQUIRE CRIM. CHECKS FOR ALL VOLUNTEERS	STILL UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME.
Algonquin & Lakeshore Catholic District School Board	Algoma District School Board
Avon Maitland District School Board	District School Board of Niagara
Bloorview School Authority	Keewatin-Patricia District School Board
Bluewater District School Board	Ottawa Catholic District School Board
Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board	Ottawa Carleton District School Board(PR.555.SCO)
Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board	Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board
Campbell Children’s School Authority	Upper Grand District School Board
Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario	Waterloo Regional District School Board
District School Board Ontario North East	Conseil scolaire de district catholique des Aurores boréales  (unless field trips & overnight)
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board
Durham Catholic District School Board
Durham District School Board
Grand Erie District School Board
Greater Essex County District School Board
Halton Catholic District School Board
Halton District School Board
Hamilton- Wentworth Catholic District School Board
Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board
Hastings & Prince Edward District School Board
Huron Perth Catholic District School Board
Huron- Superior Catholic District School Board
John McGivney Children’s Centre School Authority
Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board
Lakehead District School Board
Lambton Kent District School Board
Limestone District School Board
London District Catholic School Board
Near North District School Board
Niagara Catholic District School Board
Niagara Peninsula Children’s Centre School Authority
Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic District School Board
Northeastern Catholic District School Board
Ottawa Children’s Treatment Centre School Authority
Peel District School Board
Penetanguishene Protestant Separate School Board
Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board
Provincial Schools (board)
Rainbow District School Board
Rainy River District School Board
Renfrew County Catholic District School Board
Renfrew County District School Board
Simcoe County District School Board
Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board
St. Clair Catholic District School Board
Sudbury Catholic District School Board
Superior North Catholic District School Board
Superior-Greenstone District School Board
Thames Valley District School Board
Toronto District School Board
Toronto Catholic District School Board
Trillium Lakelands District School Board
Upper Canada District School Board
Waterloo Catholic District School Board
Wellington Catholic District School Board
Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board
York Catholic District School Board
York Regional District School Board		James Bay Lowlands Secondary School Board
Moose Factory Island District School Area Board
Moosonee District School Area Board
KidsAbility Education Authority
Kenora Catholic District School Board
Northwest Catholic District School Board ____________________________ Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario ____________________________ Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud ____________________________ Conseil scolaire de district catholique du Centre-Est de l'Ontario ____________________________ Conseil scolaire de district catholique Franco-Nord ____________________________ Conseil scolaire de district du Nord-Est de l'Ontario ____________________________ Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l'Est ontarien ____________________________ Conseil scolaire de district des écoles catholiques du Sud-Ouest ____________________________	______________________	______________________

List of Antiquated policies related to student safety --8- 13 years old !!!

The following is a list of policies of the OTTAWA-CARLETON PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD.  These are ALL polices that relate to the safety of children.   ALL of the following polices are 9 to 14 years old.    That means these polices have NOT been revised, discussed, looked, changed in any way during that time.   These are the policies that ALL Principals, teachers, parents, students and volunteers  MUST follow.   Shocking !!!

Name of Policy	Reference #	Date it was last revised (discussed)
Guidelines for dealing with reports of strangers approaching students	PR.532.SCO	May 1998
Custody & Access to students by parents & guardians	PR.531.SCO	Nov. 2001
Field Trips & excursions	PR.518.SCO	Jan.  2001
HIV -AIDS students	PR.537.SCO	Aug. 1998
Volunteers	PR.555.SCO	Feb.  2000
Educational tours & student exchange	PR.571.SCO	Feb.  2003
Reporting suspected child abuse & neglect- student under 16 years old	PR.605.SCO	April 2001
Confidential communication between students & staff	PR.608.SCO	revised  May 2002
Student safety patrols	PR.612.SCO	June 2000
Alleged/ suspected violence within a student’s family	PR. 606.SCO	April  2001
Crisis Prevention & Intervention	PR.607.SCO	April 2001
School Dances	PR.560.SCO	Nov. 1998
Alleged employee misconduct towards a student	PR.542.HR	Oct. 2002
Alleged harassment of a student	PR.543.HR	Mar. 2001
Antiracism & ethocultural equity	PR.618.CUR	April 2001
HIV-AIDS employees	PR.551.HR	Aug. 1998
Employee & student safety: eye wash stations	PR.592.HR	Aug. 1999

one more policy:

Trustee expenses for professional development, constituency communications & support services.    PR.503.GOV date last revised:       Oct. 2009    !!!   (love to see our Trustees are taking care of things).

If you were to read the policies of other Public school boards in Ontario (all online) you would begin to see how advanced they are compared to Ottawa.   York regional has a policy that states that all board policies MUST be reviewed every 4 years.   I'm thinking Ottawa Public school board has a similar one but it is to review their policies every 10 years !!    (sarcasm showing) 

I don't have the space on here (and the time) to list the remainder of the polices but there are not many policies left that relate to child safety that ARE up-to-date.   

The second hand-out I've been giving out

ALL Ottawa- Carleton Public schools  continue to allow volunteers WITHOUT criminal background checks !!! 

• criminal checks are free for volunteers
• the present practice of, signing your name on a sheet gives us little information on who we have allowed into our classrooms.  

• read your policy online www.ocdsb.ca  search “555 SCO” : the 11 year old policy on volunteers.   
• 2.1 A parent volunteer in a school is a parent or guardian who currently has a child enrolled in and attending that school, or is a member of the community who continues as a volunteer in a school without interruption after the child has left the school.   (presently even grandparents have been included) 
• low risk includes: • “in open, common area (for example, hallways, library, gym) with intermittent observation”  “Where the principal deems the volunteer activity to be of low risk, the principal or designate may allow a parent to volunteer without screening “  policy 555 SCO  written Feb. 2000 and no revisions since Feb. 2000.   (most schools practice no criminal check unless it is an overnight trip) 
• As shown on CBC News at 6 pm on September 16, 2011www.cbc.ca    search CBC News Ottawa.    

•   Ask your school trustee for your child’s school if ALL volunteers (including parent / grandparent volunteers) have criminal background checks.  Please make one phone call to assure the safety of your child. 
• 90% of all public school boards in Ontario have this policy in place. Some  for the past 10 years !!  All boards have their policies online.  

• join Facebook group  “Ottawa- Carleton school board Criminal background checks for ALL volunteers.”