Accountability

On Monday, July 21, 2014 PC MPP Mr. Jeff Yurek questioned the Minister of Education about what process the ministry follows to ensure school boards comply with anti-bullying legislation, how the Ministry keeps school administrators accountable, and the process having failed in his riding.

The Hon. Liz Sandals replied with “Not every incident turns out to be managed 100% perfectly”. This is a response that is not acceptable to us or any other Ontario tax payer whose child has been let down by their education system. The message the Minister of Education sent with that statement held the tone of “oh well – we’re not perfect – get over it”. The problem is many children are still trying to do just that. That kind of off the cuff remark is disrespectful to all young people who have suffered as a result of non-proactive administrators and other adults within the educational institution.

The non-compliance that Mr. Yurek speaks of is as a result of Ministry PPM’s that contradict existing legislation. The results from two separate Freedom of Information Requests clearly indicate the true lack of attention the issue of bullying is being given by our school boards. PPM's do not equate to statute law. They are guidelines at best with no requirement to report back to the MOE thereby making PPM's redundant.

The Minister of Education also mentioned that parents should be “contacting their local trustee, because it is, in fact, the local trustees who are accountable for ensuring that safe school legislation is put into place.” Parents do contact their elected school board trustees and they repeatedly retort with "it’s a governance issue and go back to your Principal as they have the ultimate say." There is a huge disconnect as to what the Liberal government says happens and what actually takes place. Trustees have no power or authority. Since the ministry changed their governance model from Site Based Management to the Carver model the school system is in disarray.

At the end of the day the issue of bullying within Ontario schools remains chronic and the manner in which some situations are dealt with is nothing more than shameful with our children paying the physical and emotional price.

The PC party failed to vote in favour of Bill 13 the Accepting Schools Act because it was not an anti-bullying piece of legislation. Very little has changed for the London and York Region Anti-Bullying Coalitions. We continue to receive the desperate phone calls and emails describing situations that were not “managed 100%” and the long-term consequences of this.