When a serious incident occurs at a school — an assault, a threat, a pattern of violence — parents expect transparency. They expect to be told what happened, what is being done about it, and what safeguards are in place to protect their children. The evidence, however, suggests that many Ontario school boards operate very differently in practice.
Through a series of investigations and first-person accounts, the Hold Schools Accountable Parent Network (HSA) has documented a pattern that extends well beyond any single board: incidents are minimized, language is carefully chosen to obscure severity, and parents are routinely directed into bureaucratic loops that produce little accountability and less transparency.
This is not a question of individual bad actors. It is a structural issue — one that directly implicates the gap between what provincial policy requires and what boards actually deliver.
Watch: Inside the System — A Security Expert Speaks Out
Minaz Jivraj, a former school board security professional in the Greater Toronto Area, shares his experience with how some boards handle serious incidents.[1] In this interview with Anwar Knight, he explains how boards minimize the details shared with parents, how language is deliberately calibrated to protect institutional image, and why independent oversight mechanisms are urgently needed.
Watch: “You Will Have To Lie”
In this exclusive interview, an educator from the Peel District School Board describes filing numerous violent incident reports only to have them returned as dismissed — in batch — to create the appearance that they had been investigated.[2] She alleges being told that staff who speak out would face consequences, and that the board’s messaging to staff amounted to a directive to misrepresent what was happening in schools.
Watch: The Cover-Up Culture — Including Trustees
Anwar Knight examines the role of school board trustees in maintaining — rather than challenging — institutional secrecy. Drawing on documented cases from the Peel, Hamilton-Wentworth, and Ottawa-Carleton boards, he presents evidence that trustees, rather than acting as advocates for families, frequently redirect concerns back to the very administration that families are trying to hold accountable.[3]
Why This Matters for Policy Compliance
The patterns documented in these investigations align with what School Board Research has identified through policy auditing: a systemic gap between what provincial directives require and what boards implement in practice. PPM 128 mandates that boards maintain codes of conduct with clear reporting and enforcement procedures.[4] PPM 144 requires defined processes for bullying reporting, investigation, and response.[5] When boards suppress incident reporting, discourage staff from documenting, and withhold information from parents, they are not merely failing to communicate — they are undermining the entire accountability framework that these policies are designed to create.
The absence of independent oversight is a recurring theme. As Minaz Jivraj notes, every other public institution — law enforcement, the legal profession, health care — has external investigative mechanisms.[1] School boards remain largely self-policing, investigating their own conduct behind closed doors with no obligation to share findings with the families directly affected.
What Parents Can Do
Put everything in writing. Verbal conversations with school staff are difficult to verify and easy to deny. Email creates a documented record. Always follow up any in-person conversation with a written summary confirming what was discussed.
Know your rights under MFIPPA. Ontario’s Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act gives parents the right to request records from their school board.[6] If you believe information is being withheld, a formal access request is a tool available to you. For guidance, see our Safe Schools Policies page.
Request the investigation report. HSA is petitioning the provincial government to amend the Education Act to require boards to provide parents with anonymized investigation reports for serious incidents.[7] Until that amendment is in place, parents can still request whatever documentation their board is willing to share — and document any refusals.
Sources
[1] Minaz Jivraj, interview with Anwar Knight, “Inside the System — A Security Expert Speaks Out,” Hold Schools Accountable Parent Network, January 18, 2026. Video. Jivraj’s security background is stated in the interview.
[2] Anonymous educator interview, “You Will Have To Lie,” Hold Schools Accountable Parent Network, November 26, 2025. Video.
[3] Anwar Knight, “The Cover-Up Culture — Including Trustees,” Hold Schools Accountable Parent Network, August 27, 2025. Video.
[4] Ontario Ministry of Education, Policy/Program Memorandum 128: The Provincial Code of Conduct and School Board Codes of Conduct, effective September 1, 2024.
[5] Ontario Ministry of Education, Policy/Program Memorandum 144: Bullying Prevention and Intervention, issued November 25, 2021.
[6] Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56. Ontario e-Laws.
[7] Hold Schools Accountable Parent Network, petition to amend the Education Act (R.S.O. 1990, c. E.2) to require anonymized investigation reports for serious incidents. Details available at holdschoolsaccountable.ca.
School Board Research is an independent, evidence-based research initiative examining how Ontario’s 72 publicly funded school boards translate provincial safety mandates into local policy. Learn more at schoolboardresearch.ca.
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