Pupil Accommodation Reviews


Information on Administrative Reviews

What is an Administrative Review?

The Ministry of Education encourages students, parents and community members to get involved in the accommodation review process.

If during the course of the pupil accommodation review process, you become concerned that the board is not following its accommodation review policy, you may want to consult the board's policy and advise the Accommodation Review Committee (ARC) of your concerns.

If at the end of the process, you believe that the board did not follow its accommodation review policy, then you can request an Administrative Review from the ministry.

Steps in Requesting an Administrative Review

Once the trustees have made their final decision, there are 30 calendar days to submit a petition to the ministry. The ministry will notify the contact person when the petition has been received. Within 60 days, the ministry will decide whether to appoint a facilitator to undertake an Administrative Review.

There are three steps in requesting an Administrative Review outlined in this document:

Administrative Review of Accommodation Review Process (PDF, 28 KB)

  • Step 1: Review the board's policy governing accommodation reviews and identify areas where you believe the board did not follow its policy. Some examples could include:
    • The board policy may require that public meetings be held over a 90 day period, but the meetings were held over a 70 day period.
    • The board policy may require board staff to analyze a certain number of accommodation options developed by the ARC, and the board staff may not have done so.

You can find a copy of the board's policy on its website, or you can request it from the board.

  • Step 2: Collect signatures of people who also believe the board did not follow its policy and who support a request for an Administrative Review.

Eligible signatures are from:

    • parents or guardians of students who attend the school
    • other individuals who participated in the accommodation review process by attending a meeting, presenting a submission in person or in writing (including by email), or as ARC members.

There must be enough signatures to be equal to 30 per cent of the school's student population. For example, if 150 students attend the school, then you will need 45 signatures.

The petition must have a place for names, signatures, addresses and an indication of the eligibility category.

  • Step 3: Write a letter to the Minister of Education to accompany your petition. Your letter must explain in detail how you think the board did not follow its accommodation review policy.

Your letter must identify one person as the contact person. One copy of your letter is to be sent to the Ministry and another copy is to be sent to the board. You may want to follow the format on the petition template attached below.