Because What You Don’t Know Does Hurt Them
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Our Kids. Our Right to Know.
Demand Transparency. Demand Accountability.
Ontario’s publicly funded schools are in crisis, and families have the right to know the truth.
School boards have been allowed to operate as their own judge and jury, — conducting closed-door investigations in a system with no oversight, no balance, and no obligation to be transparent or share the truth with families directly affected by school violence or misconduct.
Parents are sounding the alarm on safety and systemic misconduct, only to be ignored. Not by accident, but by design.
We’ve heard from families and educators across Ontario: the system is out of control. Even worse, schools are using “privacy” as a shield to avoid scrutiny and block parents from accessing documentation, even when their child is harmed.
In our own personal story, the Peel District School Board, intentionally lied to us, they fabricated details, ignored mandated policies and refused to cooperate with Peel Regional Police.[Video]
This practice leaves parents and guardians vulnerable, uninformed, and unable to advocate for their child’s safety and well-being. Without consequences, nothing changes. It is time to hold schools, school boards and administrators to a higher standard of fairness, integrity, and accountability.
Parents and Guardians Have the Right To:
What We’re Demanding
We call on the Government of Ontario to amend the Education Act to ensure:
What our HSA Investigations Have Found
For seven hours each day, parents trust that their children are learning in a safe, well-supervised environment.
Through family reports, one-on-one interviews with educators, and extensive documentation, HSA investigations have uncovered a troubling pattern of serious and at times frightening incidents occurring inside publicly funded schools.
Documented incidents include:
Physical assaults | Sexual assaults | Weapons brought to school | Bullying | Older students recording younger children in school bathrooms
In some cases, there have been deliberate efforts to conceal incidents, along with failures to follow required local police|school board protocols. We have also identified school boards where fundamental Code of Conduct requirements under the Education Act were not followed.
In the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, some elementary schools use the code phrase “wiggle walk” to signal a classroom evacuation due to extreme violent behaviour. The language sounds harmless, but if a child tells a parent they went on a “wiggle walk,” most families would never connect it to a violent incident.
Classroom evacuations due to violent behaviour are being reported regularly in schools across the province, in some cases multiple times a week, yet parents are rarely informed that this level of disruption or risk is occurring.
In the Peel District School Board, families have reported cases where special education students went missing during the school day. In one instance, a child walked home alone, crossing major roadways. The parents’ first notification did not come from the school, but from their apartment building superintendent, who saw the child enter the building on a security camera. This family came forward to HSA to share their story.
These cases raise serious questions about supervision, communication, incident reporting, and whether established safety protocols are being consistently followed.
Parents have a right to know what is happening.
Students have a right to a safe learning environment.
Accountability isn’t optional, it’s essential to keeping our children safe.
Who We Are
Hold Schools Accountable (HSA) is a growing network of parents and community members across Ontario who are no longer willing to stay silent. We are speaking out loudly and clearly because enough is enough.
How We Got Here
The “Trio of Trouble” Has Undermined School Safety for Years:
Progressive Discipline Is Failing
Introduced in 2008 to promote inclusive learning environments, the policy is now being misused — enabling serious incidents like physical aggression, threats, and repeated bullying to be minimized or with little to no consequences. Victims are forgotten.Students feel unsafe. Teachers are left unsupported, silenced, and burned out.
Educators are facing a growing wave of violence and intimidation. According to OSSTF, 1 in 3 teachers has experienced violence in the classroom — yet support is lacking, and accountability is no where to be found. The policy is outdated and dangerously out of touch with today’s school realities.
Since 2008, the classroom landscape has changed dramatically. Social media, violence, cyber bullying, and classroom complexity were not what they are today. It’s clear that some students need professional intervention — something Progressive Discipline does not provide.
It’s time to acknowledge what’s no longer working — and take action to ensure safe, supportive learning for all.
We need a modern policy that:
Removal Of School Resource Officers: Why Was It All or Nothing?
School Resource Officers (SROs) were removed due to concerns about over policing. These concerns are valid, but was full elimination the only solution?
SROs once played a role in de-escalation, violence prevention, and building trust. If we value safety and accountability, all stakeholders — community members, students, educators, parents, and police — must work together. Hold Schools Accountable (HSA) supports the Ontario government’s recently announced plan to reintroduce School Resource Officer (SRO) programs in public schools where offered by local police services, starting in the 2025–26 school year. Let’s collaborate, not eliminate.
The Accountability Gap
No Oversight. No Balance. No Consequences.
School boards investigate themselves — behind closed doors, with no obligation to report findings or face consequences. When policies are breached, families are often left in the dark. The lack of transparency has long lasting impacts for the entire school community.
This must change
The Provincial Government Must Act:
School boards must not – and cannot be allowed to police themselves. Parents must have confidence that the rules in place are not optional—they are enforceable.
Just So We’re Clear
We recognize that there are many exceptional teachers, educational assistants, teacher assistants, child youth workers and other staff in our publicly funded schools, dedicated, compassionate, and committed to their students’ success and well-being. They show up every day, often going above and beyond, and they deserve our thanks—and our support.
HSA is fighting for safe, supportive schools—for students, for families, and also for staff.
“Today was the first time in my career of close to 30 years that we had to shut down 4 washrooms. Vandalism has included toilets/urinals clogged with toilet paper, paper towel rolls, pylons, food and clothing as well as wet toilet paper, urine and feces of the floors, walls and sinks.”
PDSB Principal | Email memo to parents
Donate
Support Hold Schools Accountable (HSA): Our Kids. Our Right to Know.
Too many families have been left in the dark – misled, dismissed, or silenced – while schools quietly cover up issues
including violence that affects our children’s safety and well-being.
Hold Schools Accountable (HSA) is a growing movement of parents exposing the truth, supporting families, and demanding
transparency from a system that too often hides behind closed doors.
We produce investigative stories, connect families, and push for real change within our publicly funded education system.
This work is vital, but it also carries real costs. From production and outreach to expert consultations, community
coordination, and possible legal costs every step requires resources.
Please consider supporting our cause. Together, we can protect our kids and hold schools accountable.
