Every parent understands something important the moment they drop off their child at school. For the next six to seven hours, they are placing their child in someone else's care. That trust isn't just emotional. It's legal. Ontario schools have what is known as a duty of care to every student. While you'll sometimes hear the old Latin phrase in loco parentis ("in the place of a parent"), today's responsibility is defined by modern laws, policies, and court decisions, not cent

Every year, the Province announces billions of dollars for education. Most people hear those announcements and think: "Great! Schools must finally have enough money." Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. The reality is much more complicated. One of the biggest misconceptions about School Trustees is that they decide how much money schools receive. They don't. Instead, Trustees receive a funding envelope that has already been largely determined by the Province. Their job i

Over the past few weeks, I've written about Safe Schools, transparency, and the importance of measuring whether Board policies are actually achieving the outcomes they were intended to produce. Those conversations all lead back to one principle: Good governance. Recently, news reports revealed that the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board CEO, Sheryl Robinson Petrazzini, received a third consecutive payout for unused vacation time. According to the reporting, the 2025 pa

One idea I believe is worth exploring to improve transparency, communication, and publc accountability A concept for discussion One of the biggest frustrations I've heard from parents, and experienced myself, is not simply that issues arise. It's the uncertainty that follows after they're reported. Did the school receive the concern? Has anyone started looking into it? Who is responsible now? When should I expect an update? Too ofter, families are left waiting for emails or p

Policies don't make schools safer. Accountability does. Every school board in Ontario has a Safe Schools policy. Every school has anti-bullying procedures. Every administrator can point to binders full of policies, regulations, and protocols. Yet parents continue to ask the same questions: Was my child's complaint documented? Was it investigated? What happened afterward? Did anything actually change? Too often, those questions go unanswered. Policies only matter if they are c

For many Hamilton parents, the discussion about School Resource Officers (SROs) may feel like a brand new topic. In reality, it isn't. Hamilton schools once had School Resource Officers working alongside students and staff. They built relationships with students, delivered classroom presentations, supported school administrators, and acted as a bridge between schools and the Hamilton Police Service. In 2020, that changed. Following concerns raised by members of the community,