Ontario government agrees to develop policies that reflect the diverse needs of our school communities

BY PAUL JUNOR

The 83,000 strong Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (EFT0), which represents a diverse range of education stakeholders, have been fighting relentlessly for an equitable and inclusive public education.

In the lead up to its contractual agreement with the provincial government it has consistently challenged the government to address issues related to adequate funding, allocation of resources, lack of staffing and safety concerns. On Sunday, April 28^th, 2024, they issued a press release in response to the government’s announcement that it will crack down on cell phones in schools and vaping. ETFO believes that its strong advocacy has led to adoption of the recommendations that were presented with respect to the provincial code of conduct.

ETFO has fought long and hard to ensure that its recommendations are accepted by the government. After the ETFOs central agreement in December, it has met with the representatives of the provincial government, and the Ontario Public School Boards to revise PPM 128. PPM refers to Policy/Program Memorandum and it describes in detail what comprises the Provincial Codes of Conduct and School Board Codes of Conduct.

The press release states, “As a result of our strong advocacy at the bargaining table, several new measures were agreed to in bargaining, including publicly facing school signage that communicates behavior expectations for everyone, as well as a revision of PPM 126 to address behavior, consequences, and safety.”

The press release lists some of the recommendations that it has made. ETFO has made it clear that the personal code of conduct must involve an approach that is respectful of students’ dignity and rights while at the same time covers a broad range of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. These recommendations include:

• Unacceptable student behaviors include bullying, cyberbullying, intimidation, harassment, racism, discriminatory behaviour, physical violence, sexual assault, shoving and pushing, profanity, disrespectful behaviour that shows disregard for teachers, or others supervising adult’s position, failing to follow directions, significant disruptions to the learning environment, misuse of technology and social media, and repeated use of e-cigarette (vaping).

In order to promote acceptable student behavior, the school board code of conduct must clearly define unacceptable student behaviors, and school boards must enforce consequences for non-compliance.

• School Board codes of conduct should affirm that all members of the school community have a reasonable expectation of process, and so personal mobile devices should not be used to record and/or post photos, audio recording, or videos of others without their expressed consent.
• Schools must use proactive and preventative approaches to reduce the occurrences of unacceptable behavior by students and other members of the school community.
• Unacceptable behavior by students and other members of the school community will be responded to immediately by school administrators and school boards.

In addition, ETFO presented a series of recommendations directed to how code of conduct is presented, interpreted and applied in the different school boards. The recommendations include:

• All schools must post publicly facing signage in every school that communicates behavior expectations for everyone.
• School boards code of conduct should also address consequences in a manner that does not disproportionately impact students based on the protected grounds reflected in Ontario Human Rights Code.
• School boards must ensure that codes of conduct are compliant with the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which protects the safety of workers in schools and school board work sites.
• Non-compliance with a school board’s code of conduct should be addressed in a progressive manner through consequences that are appropriate for a student’s age and stage of development. The consequences should be fair and equitable and should respect the dignity of all involved. Consequences may include in school, or out-of-school suspensions.

The statement from ETFO concludes, “Education is a shared responsibility, and decisions affecting our schools should be made through a transparent and inclusive process that prioritize the well-being of students and the professionalism of educators. It is only through respectful dialogue and true collaboration that we can develop policies that reflect the diverse needs of our school communities and uphold the highest standard of educators.”