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We have provided services to Ontario school boards since the formation of our firm in 1972. We now act for approximately 30 public and Catholic district school boards across Ontario on education, labour and employment law issues.
We provide school board clients with a “one-stop” comprehensive range of labour and employment law services. In addition, we advise and represent them on education law matters, providing assistance as they address human rights and student rights disputes, manage special education issues, effect school closings, provide safe schools, interpret and apply the Education Act and its regulations and handle Freedom of Information requests.
The Hicks Morley advantage
The depth and breadth of our school board work is unmatched by any other Ontario law firm. More than 30 of our lawyers are regularly engaged in school board work. Their close involvement with over 30 individual Ontario district school boards, coupled with the various roles we play at an inter-board and provincial level, allow us to incorporate best practices from across the province. All of this provides our clients with an unmatched pool of knowledge and experience from which to draw and gives us a unique ability to serve the needs of Ontario’s school boards.
Notables
- Outreach: We provide our school board clients with regular email updates on current education, labour and employment law issues that arise in the sector. We also hold many half and full-day conferences on a variety of topics that affect school boards.
- Results: We have achieved many positive results for our school board clients that have helped them to better serve the needs of their students. Examples include clarifying the definition of what constitutes instructional time in the school day (Toronto District School Board v. OSSTF (2006), 147 L.A.C. ( 4th) 433) and establishing that Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) Therapy is not an educational program for the purposes of special education placements (Clough v. Simcoe County District School Board [2005] O.J. No. 2124).
Services offered to the School Board sector
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Employment and Labour
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| Collective Bargaining |
Human Rights |
| Attendence Management |
Arbitration |
| Wrongful Dismissal |
Workers’ Compensation |
| Collective Agreement Administration |
Occupational Health and Safety |
| Employment Standards |
Workplace Harassment |
| Labour Board Disputes |
Teacher Terminations |
| Pension and Benefits |
Restructuring |
| Supervisory Officer Contracts |
Executive Compensation |
| Pay Equity |
Principal/Vice-Principal Contracts |
| Strikes/Picketing |
Diversity Management |
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Education
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| Special Education |
Board Governance |
| Policy Development |
Student Discipline |
| Conflict of Interest |
Legislative Trends |
| Safe Schools |
Student Rights |
| Education Act Administration |
Freedom of Information |
| Strategic Planning |
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Litigation
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| Injunction Applications |
Contempt Proceedings |
| Charter Litigation |
School Closures |
| Judicial Review |
Coroner’s Inquests |
| Education Malpractice Claims |
Class Actions |
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