Reporting serious student incidents (Education Act)

The Ministry of Education: The Education Act

The Ministry of Education administers the Education Act.^{footnote 2[2]}

If an activity by a student meets the definition of a serious student incident under the Education Act, school board employees and principals are required to follow the reporting process set out in the Act.

Serious student incidents are activities for which suspension or expulsion must be considered by the principal under the Education Act. For a list of such activities, see Appendix 5: Safe Schools Incident Reporting Forms.

Employees and principals must also follow Ministry of Education and school board policy regarding codes of conduct, bullying, progressive discipline, the reporting of violent incidents to the Ministry of Education and local police/school board protocols. The steps for doing so are laid out below.

The reporting process for serious student incidents (Road Map)

The list of activities defined as serious student incidents is set out under the Education Act, Part XIII: Behaviour, Discipline and Safety (ss. 306(1), 306(2) and 310(1)).

The Act also states that a serious student incident is an activity that occurs while the student is at school, at a school-related activity, or in other circumstances where engaging in the activity will have an impact on the school climate (ss. 306(1) and 310(1)).

The Act sets out the duties of school board employees and of the principal with regard to the reporting process for serious student incidents (s. 300.2).

Reporting to the principal

Any school board employee who becomes aware that a student may have engaged in a serious student incident must report the matter to the principal as soon as reasonably possible (ss. 300.2(1) and 300.2(2)).

The principal's duty to investigate

The principal must investigate any such matter reported (s. 300.2(3)).

Informing the reporter

After investigating the matter, the principal is required to communicate the results of the investigation to the reporting teacher. If the matter was reported by an employee who is not a teacher, the principal is also required to communicate the results of the investigation, unless in the principal's opinion it would not be appropriate to do so (s. 300.2(4)).

The principal must not disclose more personal information than is reasonably necessary when communicating the results of an investigation (s. 300.2(5)).

Mitigating factors and other factors

The principal is required under the Education Act to consider mitigating factors and other factors in making decisions about suspension or expulsion (ss. 306(2), 306(4), 310(3), 311.1(4), 311.3(7)(b) and 311.4(2)(b)).

Ontario Regulation 472/07: Behaviour, Discipline and Safety of Pupils sets out the mitigating factors and other factors that must be taken into account in these decisions (O. Reg. 472/07 ss. 2 and 3).

PPM Nos. 120, 128, 144, 145

School board employees and principals are required to adhere to the policy set out in four Ministry of Education policy/program memoranda (PPMs) as well as the policy document Provincial Model for a Local Police/School Board Protocol, issued jointly by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services (for more information on the Protocol).

These policy documents will be addressed below in the following order:

• PPM No. 128, “Provincial Code of Conduct and School Board Codes of Conduct”
• PPM No. 144, “Bullying Prevention and Intervention”
• PPM No. 145, “Progressive Discipline and Promoting Positive Student Behaviour”
• PPM No. 120, “Reporting Violent Incidents to the Ministry of Education”
• Provincial Model for a Local Police/School Board Protocol, 2015

PPM No. 128, “Provincial Code of Conduct and School Board Codes of Conduct”

The provincial code of conduct (Education Act, s. 301) sets a clear provincial standard of behaviour for codes of conduct in school boards and schools. PPM No. 128 provides information about fostering a positive school climate and the required standards of behaviour that apply to all individuals involved in the publicly funded school system, including students, principals, teachers, early childhood educators, other school staff, parents, school bus drivers, volunteers and community groups.

Safe Schools Incident Reporting Forms (SSIR): PPM 144 • PPM 145 (SSIR submitted to Principal by board employee)

The purpose of reporting serious student incidents is to ensure that the principal is aware of any activities taking place in the school for which suspension or expulsion must be considered and to help ensure a positive school climate (PPM No. 145, “Reporting to the Principal”).

PPM No. 144 and PPM No. 145 set out ministry direction for the required reporting process for serious student incidents, including the use of the Safe Schools Incident Reporting Forms (Appendix 5).

Both PPMs have a section titled “Reporting to the Principal” with direction on the reporting process for serious student incidents. PPM No. 145 also includes a discussion of how to handle third-party reporting of serious student incidents; a list of serious student incidents as laid out in the Education Act; and excerpts from Ontario Regulation 472/07: Behaviour, Discipline and Safety of Pupils listing mitigating and other factors that must be taken into account.

The following summary lists key steps in the reporting procedure for serious student incidents, as set out in PPM No. 145. Refer to PPM No. 145 for further information.

Safe Schools Incident Reporting Forms (SSIR), PPM Nos. 144, 145

The Ministry of Education requires the use of the Safe Schools Incident Reporting Forms, as follows:

• All employee reports of serious student incidents, including verbal reports to the principal, must be confirmed in writing to the principal using the Safe Schools Incident Reporting Form – Part One.
• In all cases, the principal must provide the employee who reported the incident with a written acknowledgement using the Safe Schools Incident Reporting Form – Part Two.
• Where the principal is the sole witness to an incident, the principal is also required to complete the Safe Schools Incident Reporting Form – Part One.

The ministry template of the Safe Schools Incident Reporting Form, Part One and Part Two, is provided in Appendix 5 and also appears as an appendix in both PPM No. 144 and PPM No. 145. This form may be modified by school boards but must retain the elements set out in the ministry template.

SSIR submitted to Principal by board employee

A board employee who becomes aware that a student may have engaged in a serious student incident must report the matter to the principal as soon as reasonably possible and no later than the end of the school day (ss. 300.2(1) and 300.2(2)). PPM No. 144 and PPM No. 145 provide further information about reporting as soon as reasonably possible. The following requirements apply:

• The employee must consider the safety of others and the urgency of the situation.
• In any case, the employee must report the incident to the principal no later than the end of the school day.
• In cases where immediate action is required, the incident may be reported to the principal verbally.
• A written report must be made when it is safe to do so. The written report is the Safe Schools Incident Reporting Form – Part One.
• Boards are expected to provide information to board employees on completing the Safe Schools Incident Reporting Form.

Principal investigates and deals with SSIR Part One report.

If serious student incident meets PPM 120 criteria, then Principal records this on SSIR Part One.

Principal investigates and deals with the SSIR Part One report

The principal must investigate all reports of serious student incidents (s. 300.2(3)). The principal is required to consider mitigating factors and other factors (see Education Act 306(1) and 306(2) and 310(1), above) and to follow the local police/school board protocol (see Police – notification if applicable, below).

If serious student incident meets PPM No. 120 criteria

PPM No. 120, “Reporting Violent Incidents to the Ministry of Education” identifies seven types of violent incidents. For the purposes of PPM No. 120, the term violent incident is defined as the occurrence of any one of the following or the occurrence of a combination of any of the following:

• possessing a weapon, including possessing a firearm
• physical assault causing bodily harm requiring medical attention
• sexual assault
• robbery
• using a weapon to cause or to threaten bodily harm to another person
• extortion
• hate and/or bias-motivated occurrences

If the principal identifies the serious student incident as one of the above, the principal is required to complete the last section of the Safe Schools Incident Reporting Form – Part One (item 6, “For Principal's Use Only”). (See “Annual Report of PPM 120 Data”, below.)

Principal provides SSIR Part Two: “Acknowledgement of Receipt” to board employee.

If Principal takes action as a result of the serious student incident SSIR Part One report, then a copy of SSIR Part One is filed in the Ontario Student Record

Principal provides SSIR Part Two “Acknowledgement of Receipt” to board employee

The principal must provide the employee who reported the incident with a written acknowledgement, using the Safe Schools Incident Reporting Form – Part Two: Acknowledgement of Receipt of Report.

As required under the Education Act (s. 300.2(4)), if a teacher made the report, the principal communicates the results of the completed investigation to that employee. If a board employee who is not a teacher made the report, then the principal may communicate the results of the investigation to that employee, if the principal considers it appropriate to do so. Information must be provided in a timely manner to help facilitate positive outcomes. The principal must not disclose more information than is reasonably necessary when communicating the results of an investigation (s. 300.2(5)).

If Principal takes action as a result of the serious student incident SSIR Part One report, then a copy of SSIR Part One is filed in the Ontario Student Record

If the principal takes action as a result of a serious student incident, a copy of the reporting form with documentation of actions taken must be filed in the Ontario Student Record (OSR) of the student whose behaviour was inappropriate. The names of all other students that appear on the form must be removed before the form is filed. If more than one student was involved, these actions must be repeated for each student. Refer to PPM No. 145 for further important details about OSR filing requirements when a principal takes action as a result of a serious student incident report.

Annual Report of PPM 120 Data to Ministry of Education (through OnSIS)

PPM No. 120 identifies seven types of violent incidents that school boards must report on an annual basis to the Ministry of Education. This reporting process is completed through the Ontario School Information System (OnSIS).

PPM No. 120 states: “All violent incidents that occur on school premises during school-run programs must be reported to the ministry, whether the violent incident was committed by a student of the school or whether it was committed by any other person.”

The principal assists the school board in its collection of this data by using the Safe Schools Incident Reporting Form – Part One (see item 6, “For Principal's Use Only”) to indicate with a check mark that a serious student incident also meets the PPM No. 120 definition of a “violent incident”.

PPM No. 120 includes two reminders for reporting requirements:

• Boards must follow the direction in Provincial Model for a Local Police/School Board Protocol regarding police notification if any violent incidents occur.
• In circumstances where board employees have reason to believe that a student may be in need of protection, they are required to call a children's aid society, in accordance with the requirements of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017.

Police – notification if applicable: Provincial Model for a Local Police/School Board Protocol (2015), Ministry of Education

The Provincial Model for a Local Police/School Board Protocol (referred to henceforth as the Protocol) outlines the 22 key elements that must be included in local police/school board protocols across the province. It also includes provincial policies for lockdown procedures and bomb threat procedures in elementary and secondary schools. The Protocol was established jointly by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

In section 8, “Occurrences Requiring Police Response”, the Protocol indicates the types of incidents for which reporting to the police is mandatory and those for which reporting to the police is discretionary. These types of incidents include occurrences that happen at school, during school-related activities in or outside school and in other circumstances if the incident has a negative impact on school climate.

Note that Protocol directions for police notification do not replace school board procedures for a board employee to call 911 in case of emergencies.

Occurrences requiring police response

Here is the relevant excerpt from the Protocol (pp. 12–13), listing the types of incidents for which mandatory and discretionary reporting to the police are indicated.

Mandatory Notification of Police

At a minimum, the police must be notified of the following types of incidents:

• all deaths
• physical assault causing bodily harm requiring treatment by a medical practitioner
• sexual assault
• robbery
• criminal harassment
• relationship-based violence
• possessing a weapon, including possessing a firearm
• using a weapon to cause or to threaten bodily harm to another person
• trafficking in weapons or in illegal drugs
• possessing an illegal drug
• hate and/or bias-motivated occurrences
• gang-related occurrences
• extortion
• non-consensual sharing of intimate images
• bomb threats

Discretionary Notification of Police: Police response may also be needed in connection with the following types of incidents:

• giving alcohol to a minor
• being under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs
• threats of serious physical injury, including threats made on social networking sites or through instant messaging, text messaging, email and so on
• incidents of vandalism
• incidents of trespassing

Decision making by the principal

The Protocol notes: “Principals should consider mitigating and other factors when deciding whether to call the police in … discretionary situations. It is expected that all other school-related occurrences not specified in the protocol will be dealt with by the principal on a case-by-case basis and that police will be notified at the principal's discretion.”

The Protocol includes a number of sections that provide direction for decision making by the principal regarding police notification and any resulting investigation, for example:

• Occurrences Requiring Police Response (section 8)
• School Procedures for Reporting to Police (section 10)
• School and Police Investigations of Incidents (section 12)
• Investigations Involving Students with Special Education Needs (section 15)
• Occurrences Involving Students Under Age 12 (section 16)

Refer to both the Protocol and the school board's local police/school board protocol for further information.