We help Ontario’s school boards ensure they deliver services fairly and respect people’s rights. We also help students who attend provincial and demonstration schools, which provide education for elementary and secondary school students who are Deaf or hard of hearing, who are blind or have low vision, who are deafblind, and/or who have severe learning disabilities.
How we work with you
Through our work, we suggest improvements to fix administrative issues. For example, we:
- Work with board staff to resolve individual complaints and identify areas for improvement to prevent further problems
- Identify administrative issues and share best practices
- Investigate complaints or issues at the Ombudsman’s own initiative and publish reports and recommendations to improve services
- Make submissions to government on proposed legislation that affects school boards, drawing on our extensive experience addressing systemic issues and ensuring fairness
- Offer presentations to school board trustees and staff, giving best practices for ensuring administrative fairness
Find out what to expect if we receive a complaint about your organization.
Open meetings: When in doubt, open the meeting
Under the Education Act, all board of trustees’ meetings and meetings of committees of the board must be open to the public, with a few exceptions.
Meetings of a committee of a board, including a committee of the whole board, can be closed to the public where the subject matter under consideration is:
- the security of the property of the board;
- the disclosure of intimate, personal or financial information in respect of a member of the board or committee, an employee or prospective employee of the board or a pupil or his or her parent or guardian;
- the acquisition or disposal of a school site;
- decisions in respect of negotiations with employees of the board; or
- litigation affecting the board.
Under the Education Act, the Ontario Regulation 463/97, Electronic Meetings and Meeting Attendance, states that the meeting room of the board or of a committee of the board must be open to permit physical attendance by members of the public at every meeting.
Learn more about the Ombudsman’s decisions on and interpretations of the Education Act’s open meeting rules.
Fairness by Design
Canada’s provincial and territorial ombudsmen developed this self-assessment tool to help public organizations – including school boards – ensure that their policies, programs and practices are fair and consistent with the principles of administrative law and the standards of fairness.
By following these best practices when reviewing or developing public programs, policies and procedures, those who deliver public services are more likely to treat people fairly and provide excellent service.