Always consult with your superintendent when contemplating the limiting of access or issuing a trespass letter. Your superintendent will provide advice with respect to the board’s policies and procedures regarding access to school premises. There will be explicit directions and form letters to use.
“Access to School Premises” (Regulation 474/00) defines who can be on school property. See the box on next page for details. Regulation 474/00 gives principals and boards the right to restrict access to schools for people (not students enrolled at the school) whose presence is detrimental to a person on the premises. Unauthorized persons on school property could face fines upon conviction. In addition, under Section 265(m) of the Education Act, principals have the power to exclude anyone subject to an appeal to the board, to refuse to admit to the school or classroom a person whose presence in the school or classroom would be in the principal’s judgment detrimental to the physical or mental well-being of the pupils.
Regulation 474/00: Access to School Premises
- This Regulation governs access to school premises under section 305 of the Education Act.
- (1) The following persons are permitted to be on school premises on any day and at any time:
- A person enrolled as a pupil in the school
- A parent or guardian of such a pupil
- A person employed or retained by the board
- A person who is otherwise on the premises for a lawful purpose
(2) A person who is invited to attend an event, a class or a meeting on school premises is permitted to be on the premises for that purpose.
(3) A person who is invited onto school premises for a particular purpose by the principal, a vice-principal or another person authorized by board policy to do so is permitted to be on the premises for that purpose.
(4) Subsection (1), (2) or (3) does not entitle a person to have access to all areas of the school premises.
(5) Subsection (1) does not restrict the right of the board to lock the school premises when the premises are not being used for a purpose authorized by the board.
- (1) A person is not permitted to remain on school premises if his or her presence is detrimental to the safety or well-being of a person on the premises, in the judgment of the principal, a vice-principal or another person authorized by the board to make such a determination.
(2) A person is not permitted to remain on school premises if a policy of the board requires the person to report his or her presence on the premises in a specified manner and the person fails to do so.
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to a pupil enrolled in the school or to a pupil attending a program for suspended or expelled pupils that is located on the school premises. O. Reg. 471/07, s. 2.
(4) A person who is not permitted, under section 3, to be on or remain on school premises on January 31, 2008, shall be permitted to be on and remain on school premises in accordance with this regulation on and after February 1, 2008, if the person was a pupil enrolled in the school at the time that permission for him or her to be on or remain on school premises was revoked. O. Reg. 471/07, s. 3.
(Last amendment: O. Reg 471/07) (Source:
www.e-laws.gov.on.ca)