On October 25, 2018, the PC Government introduced Bill 48, the
Safe and Supportive Classrooms Act, 2018 (“Bill 48”). The bulk of Bill 48 introduces legislative changes that mandate mandatory revocation of a teaching certificate when a teacher has been guilty of professional misconduct involving the sexual abuse of a child. However, tucked into the bill is an amendment to the
Education Act that, if passed, would give the Minister of Education the power to establish policies and guidelines for school boards with respect to service animals in schools and require those school boards to establish their own policies on that issue.
According to a Ministry of Education news release, only 39 of 72 school boards across Ontario have policies in place to address the need for service animals in schools. This lack of guidance leaves students and parents/caregivers to advocate for themselves regarding the use of a service animal in school and may result in students with disabilities being denied full access to education.
Recently, this issue was the subject of litigation in
J.F. v. Waterloo Catholic District School Board, 2017 HRTO 1121, where the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (“HRTO”) addressed the question of the right of a child to attend school with a service animal. Ultimately, the HRTO concluded that the student, who had been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), did not require his Autism Service Dog in order to have meaningful access to education. The HRTO also found that schools are not public spaces, pursuant to the
Education Act and its regulations, and therefore, the
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act did not apply to give the student an unrestricted right to attend school with his service dog.
Fortunately, given the complexity of this issue, the Government has indicated that all members of the public, including families, education partners, advocacy groups and community agencies, will have the opportunity to provide input on the policy directive that would be issued to boards if Bill 48 is passed.
The full text of Bill 48 can be found
here. PooranLaw will continue to provide updates as this issue develops so stay tuned for further details and contact any member of our team if you have any questions or require assistance.
