AODA Alliance
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update
United for a Barrier-Free Ontario for All People with Disabilities
Website: www.aodaalliance.org
Email: aodafeedback@gmail.com
Twitter: @aodaalliance
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aodaalliance
More Media Coverage of the Ford Government’s Attempt to Reduce the Parent Advocacy for Students with Disabilities – and – Ousted Trustees to Hold October 14, 2025 Public Forum in Toronto
October 10, 2025
SUMMARY
Here are overlapping developments regarding Ontario’s beleaguered school system, which we view from the perspective of the many disability barriers in school still impeding students with disabilities.
1. Global News Publishes Excellent Report on the Ford Government’s Suppressing the Advocacy Voices of Parents of Students with Disabilities/Special Education Needs by Banning Live-Streaming of Special Education Advisory Committee Meetings at the School Boards Which the Ontario Government Took Over
A very good online October 10, 2025 Global News report gave more media attention to the controversy swirling around the Ford Government’s decision to forbid the live streaming of school board committee meetings, including those of a Special Education Advisory Committee, at those school boards which the Ontario Government took over last June. With the Ontario Government now 100% solely on the hook for how students with disabilities/special education needs are treated at these schools, the Minister of Education’s action here looks like an effort to prevent the public from hearing any criticism of what is happening in the classroom when it comes to these students. Read this article below.
Irrefutable proof that that the meetings of the Toronto District School Board’s Special Education Advisory Committee are fully appropriate for live streaming can be found by simply watching two of these meetings which were live streamed last spring. Check out the meetings on May 12, 2025 or June 9 2025.
2. Ousted Elected Toronto District School Board Trustees to Hold a Public Forum on Education on October 14, 2025
On Tuesday, October 14, 2025, a group of the elected TDSB school board trustees whom the Ford Government ousted from their roles last June have organized a public Town Hall to discuss the future of education in Ontario The panel at this event will include, among others, TDSB Special Education Advisory Committee Chair David Lepofsky, who is also chair of the AODA Alliance. Below is the public announcement of this event.
3. How You Can Help
- Add your voice to the mounting pressure on the Ford Government. Write Education Minister Paul Calandra at edu@ontario.ca Tell him to withdraw his order that prohibits live streaming of meetings of a Special Education Advisory Committee and other board committees at the school boards that the Ontario Government took over last June.
- Send Premier Ford the same message. Email him at premier@ontario.ca
- Learn all about the AODA Alliance’s advocacy efforts on behalf of students with disabilities Take a look at the AODA Alliance website’s education page.
- Remember to listen to our new podcast: “Disability Rights and Wrongs – The David Lepodcast” which is available on Apple Music, Spotify and wherever else you get your podcasts!
MORE DETAILS
Global News October 10, 2025
Originally posted at https://globalnews.ca/news/11472398/ontario-school-board-live-streaming-meeting-change/amp/
Disability advocate concerned TDSB meeting changes will shut parents out
By Isaac Callan Global News
A prominent disability advocate says the Ford government’s decision to stop livestreaming meetings at the school boards it has taken over is “exceedingly troubling and undemocratic.”
Recently, the Ministry of Education instructed supervisors at major school boards like Toronto public, Ottawa-Carleton and Dufferin-Peel Catholic to stop broadcasting their meetings online.
At Toronto District School Board, one of the meetings impacted was the Special Education Advisory Committee, chaired by disability advocate David Lepofsky.
He said livestreaming the meetings was a vital service that particularly benefitted the parents of children with disabilities or special educational needs.
Lepofsky said parents have, for years, tuned into the online broadcasts of the meetings to understand what’s happening at a board level for their children when they’re too busy to attend.
The committee meets from 7 to 9 p.m. during the week when many are getting their children ready for bed. It discusses issues and accommodations for special education at TDSB schools.
“We’ve heard back from parents about how many of them feel isolated and really stressed out trying to advocate for their children,” Lepofsky said. “When they tune into our meetings, they find out they’re not alone.”
A spokesperson for the Minister of Education said the move was not about cutting out parents, but stopping people without children in the board tuning into meetings for unrelated advocacy campaigns.
“I made this decision to maintain meetings that are productive, professional, and focused on improving student success and achievement, rather than serving as a forum for political commentary,” a statement attributed to Minister Paul Calandra said.
“At the same time, I ordered all meetings to remain open to the public with hybrid participation options with public posting of agendas, minutes, and decisions.”
That response, Lepofsky said, has him more concerned than when he first found out the meetings weren’t going to be livestreamed.
He said his concern now is not just that a cost-cutting drive has inadvertently damaged access for parents of children with disabilities, but that it is actually a concerted effort to clamp down on criticism.
“This is no justification for hampering the voices of parents of students with disabilities/special education needs,” he wrote in a statement.
“All the discussions at the meetings of TDSB’s SEAC over the past ten years have been focused solely on what is needed to advance student success for students with disabilities/special education needs.”
The government said parents could continue to appear remotely at meetings through hybrid Zoom calls, but would no longer be able to watch them online if they’re not participating.
“Are they afraid?” Lepofsky added. “Now that they’re in charge of running the school board, are they concerned that there be no platform for parents of students with disabilities to be able to air publicly their concern?”
The move comes as Calandra undertakes a potentially massive shakeup of how school boards operate, following the takeover of several in the spring.
Supervisors are now in charge of running those boards instead of the trustees, who the government is considering abolishing altogether in some cases.
Lepofsky said he feared the livestreaming issue could be a flavour of what’s to come after the shakeup.
“Before they ousted the TDSB trustees, parents had multiple forums in public where they could raise concerns,” he said.
“Now, all of those have been wiped out with the stroke of a pen at the end of June. And all that’s left as a place for our issues to get pressed is the Special Education Advisory Committee. And they turned off the switch, preventing us from livestreaming.”
Town Hall
The future of public education and why it matters
Panelists include:
Dr. Sachin Maharaj, University of Ottawa
David Lepofsky, TDSB SEAC
Celine Odjig, TDSB Indigenous Student Trustee
Bibi Safraw Hanif, TDSB Parent
Join us for an important town hall about the future of public education and why it matters. Bill 33 shifts decision-making power and this is a critical moment for public education.
Join parents, students, educators, and community members to learn what’s at stake, speak up and stand together for democratic, locally accountable schools. Your voice matters!
Date: October 14th, 2025
Time: 630 PM
Location: Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, 16 Spadina Road, right across from Spadina Station.
RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfoJ4LRPwISwuy-n2iCYyzNwhFT9yjeALPloBoSu2LhNKt3EQ/viewform
Child minding available, open to everyone!