How this audit reads a board’s documents
- 1 · Read it as a parentIf a rule is vague, unclear or written so a parent could not act on it, it does not count. If a document has no date on it, a parent cannot tell whether it is current, so it does not count as up to date.
- 2 · Four cornersOnly what is written inside the board’s own document counts. If it sends the reader to another document, such as a procedure, a code of conduct, a reporting page or a school’s own plan, that document’s content is not read in. Those documents are listed for parents but earn no credit.
- 3 · A duty must be written as a dutyWill, shall and must count. May, should, can and encouraged describe a choice, not a requirement, and do not count. In this audit the rule applies at Requirements 5, 11, 13 and 14, and not at Requirements 8 to 10 and 12, for the reasons the codebook gives there.
- 4 · Promising is not doingA board gets credit for what it has done and published today, not for what it says it plans to do.
- 5 · Show the workEvery result says what was checked, in which file, and on what date. The audit follows a parent’s path from the board’s home page, using the board’s own search first.
How policies, procedures and plans differ, and who is responsible for each: Policy, Procedure and Plan: A Plain-Language Guide for parents, and Policy, Procedure and Plan: A Guide for Boards and Trustees.
Bullying Prevention and Intervention (PPM 144)
What is PPM 144? Under the Education Act, “Every board shall establish a bullying prevention and intervention plan for the schools of the board and require its schools to implement the plan”,[3, s. 303.3(1)] and “Every board shall establish policies and guidelines with respect to bullying prevention and intervention in schools”.[3, s. 302(3.4)] Policy/Program Memorandum 144 (PPM 144) is the Ministry’s direction on both. It was reissued on 25 November 2021, and it says: “Every school board must establish a plan for schools that integrates all the board’s requirements and guidelines regarding bullying prevention and intervention into a comprehensive and achievable plan. Every board must require that all schools implement this plan.”[1]
The 2021 memorandum added things a parent needs to know. Board policies “must include” a “clear path for parents to follow should they need to report bullying”: “where a parent can file a report and with whom”, “what steps will be taken following a report made by a parent” and “a process a parent can follow if they are not satisfied with the school’s response”.[1] It also states that “Bullying, including cyber-bullying, is an instance of a serious student incident” and that “Principals must suspend students in junior kindergarten to grade 3 for incidents of bullying” in two named situations.[1]
- 1. Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan
- The board’s own plan for its schools, integrating the board’s requirements and guidelines on bullying prevention and intervention, which every school is required to implement. It may stand alone or be a section of the policy.
- 2. Bullying Prevention and Intervention Policy
- The board’s own policy stating what the board requires on bullying prevention and intervention: its statements, rules and the parent-facing content the memorandum’s components require. Any title counts; a code of conduct that only prohibits bullying does not.
- “School boards must make their plan available to the public either on the school board’s website, or if the board does not have a website, make their plan available in another appropriate manner.”[1] The policy must be available to the public on the website, or the website must say how to ask for it.[CB, Req 2]
This board’s documents, and how a parent gets to them
The fourteen requirements
Grouped by document. Requirements 3 and 4 test both documents and are shown once under each; a requirement is met only when both documents meet it, and where neither document is credited both lines fail.
| Requirement and the parent’s check | Result | Comments |
|---|
References
Numbered as in the PPM 144 audit codebook, so each citation can be traced to it.
- [1]Ontario Ministry of Education. Policy/Program Memorandum No. 144: Bullying Prevention and Intervention. Date of issue 25 November 2021; effective until revoked or modified; page marked “Updated: July 15, 2026”. Held copy retrieved 23 September 2026.
- [2]Ontario Ministry of Education. Policy/Program Memorandum No. 144. Date of issue 17 October 2018, replacing the version of 5 December 2012. Superseded by [1].
- [3]Education Act, RSO 1990, c. E.2, ss. 1(1), 1(1.0.0.2), 283(1.1), 283.1(1)(f) and (g), 300.3(1), (2), (3), (8), 302(3.4), 302(9.1), 303.3(1), (4), (5), 306(1), 310(1). e-Laws consolidation from 22 September 2026; the cited provisions read 23 September 2026.
- [5]School Board Research. Board Document Conformance Codebook, v1.5, 12 October 2026 (documentation revision of v1.4 of 8 October 2026, under which the file checks shown here were made). Measures four WCAG 2.0 Level A criteria on each saved file: content available as text (1.1.1), language declared (3.1.1), structure present (1.3.1), a title of its own (2.4.2). Available on request.
- [6]O. Reg. 440/20, Suspension of Elementary School Pupils, and O. Reg. 472/07, Behaviour, Discipline and Safety of Pupils. Consulted 23 September 2026.
- [8]Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, SO 2005, c. 11, and O. Reg. 191/11, Integrated Accessibility Standards, s. 14(2) and 14(4). Consulted 23 September 2026.
- CBSchool Board Research. PPM 144 Compliance Audit: Codebook v9.4. 12 October 2026 (documentation revision; every cell was scored under v9.1 of the same date, and no rule, question, element or code has changed since). Available on request. Requirement names, checklist statements, audit questions, element names and parent’s checks are quoted from it without change, the standard reasons from its section 8.10, and the rules above from its section 2.
Method and sources
Scope. All 72 Ontario district school boards. School authorities, hospital boards and the Provincial Schools are not included.
Cite as. School Board Research. (2026). Ontario School Board Report Card: Bullying Prevention and Intervention (PPM 144), 2026. https://schoolboardresearch.ca/board-report-card/2026-review/bullying-prevention/