Wandering children and educator culpability
Educators have a responsibility to supervise children in their care and protect them from reasonably foreseeable risks. Two recent arbitration cases considered whether educators can be disciplined when a student in their care wanders away or goes off school premises...
A teacher’s past life may come back to haunt them
A registered teacher’s pre-registration conduct may, in some cases, be considered by the Ontario College of Teachers’ (the “OCT”) Discipline Committee in determining whether a Member is guilty of professional misconduct. This was explicitly recognized in Ontario College of Teachers...
Investigation of CoreFour Inc. (Edsby) by Privacy Commissioner of Canada
On May 20, 2021, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) announced the release of a privacy report reviewing the compliance of CoreFour Inc., which operates an educational software application called Edsby, with the Personal Information Protection and...
Ontario Superior Court recognizes new tort of harassment
A recent decision by the Ontario Superior Court (Caplan v. Atas, 2021 ONSC 670) has created a new civil cause of action for harassment. The ruling arose from a set of extraordinary facts, wherein four lawsuits filed against the defendant were...
Political opinion about masks does not attract protection on the basis of creed
A recent decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (the “Tribunal”) may assist school boards, many of which have received requests for mask exemptions on the basis of “a sincerely held belief” by a parent that their child should...
Privacy Law & Data Protection
The federal Digital Charter Implementation Act was introduced for First Reading on November 17, 2020 as Bill C-11. If enacted, the new Consumer Privacy Protection Act will replace the privacy portions of the current Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”),...
Ontario government moves to ban suspension for students in Grades K to 3
The author would like to acknowledge the contribution of 2020 Summer Student and 2021/2022 Articling Student Kayla Cockburn. On July 9, 2020, the Ontario government announced “New Changes to Advance Equal Opportunity for Black, Indigenous and Racialized Students.” [1] The...
School board held liable for historical sexual abuse of student
The author would like to acknowledge the contribution of 2020 Summer Student and 2021/2022 Articling Student Lindsay Armstrong. In a recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Trillium Lakelands District School Board was held negligent and vicariously...
Changes to education leadership in Ontario
Over the past few months, 14 of the 72 Ontario Directors of Education have either announced their retirement or left their positions. Such a significant turnover in leadership will not only be felt by the school boards with vacancies, but...
COVID-19: Emergency preparedness and communications
On March 9, 2020 we presented an urgent “Morning Recess” webinar summarizing for our school board clients their legal rights and responsibilities in the face of the global spread of the COVID-19 virus. Please contact us if you would like...
