LEARNING IN ONTARIO
Review of the Safe Schools Act
Data On School Discipline
Data collected, verified and made public by the Ministry of Education shows that the "Safe Schools Act" is not being consistently applied across the province.
For the first time since the safe schools act was introduced, the Ministry of Education has collected data on suspensions and expulsions from school boards and verified it with them so it could be made available to the public. Updated data will be published in future. In the meantime, the following is a summary of provincial data for the 2003-04 school year.
Suspensions
Provincial Summary
In 2000-01, the year before the act was implemented under local rules, 113,778 students were suspended. Suspensions and expulsions spiked in the first two years the act was introduced and by the third year, in 2003-04, the number of suspended students was 152,626. The most recent trend in 2002 to 2003 shows a reduction of 8 per cent in the number of suspensions.
Board Summaries - Suspensions
Boards report an extremely large variance in the rates of suspensions from 0.5% of students in one board to 36% of students in another.
* Boards marked with an asterisk in the list below have supplied further data, which will be reflected in future updates to this site.
Expulsions
Provincial Summary
In 2000-01, the year before the act was implemented under local rules, 106 students were reported expelled. Suspensions and expulsions spiked in the first two years the act was introduced and by the third year, in 2003-04, the number of expelled students was 1,909.
Board Summaries - Expulsions
* Boards marked with an asterisk in the list below have supplied further data, which will be reflected in future updates to this site.
Discussion Paper
- Safer Schools...Safer Communities is available for download (PDF, 479 KB)
Safe Schools Act Review Consultations
Students, parents, educators and communities across the province were invited to provide their input on school safety and the Safe Schools Act through public consultations in November and December 2005.
The McGuinty government’s Safe Schools Action Team visited communities across Ontario to examine school safety and the impact of the Safe Schools Act as part of a complete review of the Act.
Consultations were held in Ottawa, London, Toronto, Sudbury and Thunder Bay.
See also:
- News Release: McGuinty Government Releases Data on School Discipline (November 23, 2005)
- Fact Sheet: Suspensions and expulsions facts (November 23, 2005)
- News Release: Stamping Out Bullying In Ontario Schools (November 16, 2005)
- News Release: Making Ontario Schools Safer Places To Learn (November 8, 2005)
- News Release: Safe Schools A Prerequisite For Student Achievement (September 21, 2005)
- News Release: McGuinty Government Acting To Protect Students – Comprehensive Action Plan To Address Safety In All Ontario Schools (December 14, 2004)
