AODA Alliance
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update
United for a Barrier-Free Ontario for All People with Disabilities
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The Latest in a Growing and Worrisome Pattern of Harmful Special Education Cuts is Revealed at the Ottawa Carleton Catholic District School Board
June 14, 2026
SUMMARY
On Thursday, June 11, 2026, the CTV Ottawa news reported on a forthcoming special education cut at the Ottawa Carleton Catholic District School board, OCCDSB. The report, set out below, describes how OCCDSB is eliminating staff in school busses needed to support students with disabilities with complex health needs. This cut endangers the health of these students, and is the latest in the many disability barriers impeding students with disabilities at Ontario schools.
This is just the latest in a worrisome and growing patter of new cuts to special education programs, services and supports at an increasing number of school boards around Ontario. These cuts are not limited to school boards that the Ford Government took over and is directly running. These cuts all fly in the face of Education Minister Paul Calandra’s commitment when speaking on April 27, 2026 to the Legislature’s Standing Committee on Social Policy as follows:
“The level of special education across the province is different from school board to school board. I’m frankly unhappy with that. I’m unhappy with the disconnect between the three ministries that are responsible. I certainly think we can do a better job. I will be spending a significant amount of time over the next number of months seeing how we can better perform when it comes to special education.”
In addition this new special education cut in Ottawa flies in the face of the school board’s duty to accommodate students with disabilities under the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Charter of Rights. It is also impossible to square with the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation enacted under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, which includes this requirement:
“75. (1) This section applies to every school board that provides transportation services for its students.
(2) School boards to which this section applies shall,
(a) ensure that integrated accessible school transportation services are provided for their students; or
(b) ensure that appropriate alternative accessible transportation services are provided for students with disabilities, where in the opinion of the board integrated accessible school transportation services are not possible or not the best option for a student with a disability because of the nature of the disability or safety concerns.
(3) School boards to which this section applies shall, in consultation with parents or guardians of students with disabilities,
(a) identify students with disabilities before the commencement of each school year or during the school year, based on the needs of the student with a disability;
(b) develop individual school transportation plans for each student with a disability that,
(i) detail student assistance needs for each student with a disability, and
(ii) include plans for individual student boarding, securement and deboarding; and
(c) identify and communicate to the appropriate parties the roles and responsibilities of the transportation provider, the parents or guardians of the student with the disability, the operator of the vehicle used to transport the student, appropriate school staff and the student with the disability.
(4) School boards to which this section applies shall meet,
(a) the requirements of subsection (2) by July 1, 2011; and
(b) the requirements of subsection (3) by January 1, 2014.
(5) In this section,
“school board” means a board as defined in subsection 1 (1) of the Education Act; (“conseil scolaire”)
“transportation provider” includes an entity or person that has entered into an agreement with a board for the transportation of students under subsection 190 (6) of the Education Act; (“fournisseur de services de transport”)
“transportation services” means transportation that a board provides under section 190 of the Education Act.”
We want to raise this growing pattern of special education cuts with the Education Minister, among other issues. On April 27, 2026, Education Minister Paul Calandra agreed to have a meeting with AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky. On May 15, 2026, the AODA Alliance wrote Minister Calandra, asking to schedule that meeting. Neither the Minister nor his office has responded.
On Thursday, June 18, 2026, from 10 AM to noon, the AODA Alliance and the Ontario Autism Coalition have joined forces to host a Virtual Town Hall for parents of students with disabilities and students with disabilities themselves to share what disability barriers still exist in Ontario schools, and to recommend solutions. Education Minister Paul Calandra was written on June 2, 2026 to invite him to attend, listen to speakers, and address this virtual Town Hall. No reply has been received to that invitation.
June 11, 2026 was quite a news day for the AODA Alliance. We were in three different news outlets on two different stories. In addition to the CTV Ottawa report set out below (which is a story that CTV brought to us, not the reverse), we were in the Toronto Star and on CBC regarding the AODA Alliance video depicting one Eglinton Crosstown public transit barrier, as included in the June 12, 2026 AODA Alliance Update!
How You Can Help
- Speak to any parents, grandparents or other family members of students with disabilities. Get them to email TownHall@OntarioAutismCoalition.com to sign up to speak at the upcoming June 18, 2026 Virtual Town Hall on improving our schools for students with disabilities. Speakers are asked to describe disability obstacles and problems at school, and recommend solutions. We ask speakers not to identify the student, school, teachers or other staff members. They can name their school board if they wish.
MORE DETAILS
CTV News Ottawa June 11, 2026
Originally posted at: https://www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/article/parents-seek-answers-after-ottawa-catholic-school-board-decision-to-eliminate-bus-attendants/
Parents seek answers after Ottawa Catholic School Board decision to eliminate bus attendants
By Katelyn Wilson
Disability rights advocates are raising concerns about the consultation process surrounding OCSB bus attendant cuts. CTV’s Katelyn Wilson reports.
Questions are mounting over the Ottawa Catholic School Board’s decision to eliminate bus attendants for students with special needs this fall.
The change is expected to impact roughly 100 students and their families.
Bus attendants help support students with complex needs during the ride to and from school, including students with medical, behavioural and mobility needs.
Jimmy Ruggiero says the decision has left parents scrambling for answers.
“It was upsetting because number one, I didn’t expect it,” he said. “Also, the timing of everything was not the greatest. As a parent I am still trying to deal with it right now.”
Earlier this week, Ruggiero received a letter from his son’s school saying the board would be “concluding its bus attendant service” beginning in September.
It’s a support his nearly 18-year-old son Luca has relied on since elementary school to help him get to and from school safely.
“What a difference it’s made for my son,” Ruggiero said. “He has an acquired brain injury from when he was young. He has medical complexities. He’s fully dependent in all areas of his life.”
The letter says the board is “transitioning to a model where transportation support is coordinated through healthcare partners such as CHEO.”
But CHEO tells CTV News in a statement, “It was not involved in the decision by the OCSB and became aware of the change after parents and families began reaching out with questions.”
“That was extremely frustrating,” Ruggiero said. “It felt like a lot of the messages that were sent out weren’t accurate.”
The decision is now facing scrutiny from disability rights advocates.
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance says school boards have a legal obligation to accommodate the needs of students with disabilities.
“If the school board has been providing this accommodation, they would have to prove why they suddenly decided the children don’t need it anymore,” said David Lepofsky, chair of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance.
“The parents don’t have to prove they need it. The school board has to prove they don’t.”
He added that the board had a duty to consult parents before reaching any decisions.
The board says the decision was shaped by feedback from parents surveyed regarding service cancellation when bus attendants were unavailable.
Saying majority of those who filled out the survey indicated they wanted their children to go to school even if attendants were unavailable, but many parents told CTV News they were never consulted about the cancellation of bus attendants.
In a statement, the OCSB said “student safety and well-being remain our highest priorities” adding, “bus attendants are not healthcare professionals and are not responsible for providing medical care or medical assessments during transportation.”
But Ruggiero says the concern isn’t medical treatment, it’s having another trained adult on the bus.
“My son is non-verbal. He can’t communicate how he’s feeling. If he has a seizure, no one would really know,” he said. “My concern is that a bus driver has to focus on the road.”
Ruggiero says the biggest frustration is the uncertainty, with September just months away.
“We need clear communication from the board to know that we’re going to feel safe, knowing that our kids are not just pushed to the side,” he said.