Parents who disagree with the identification and/or placement decision made following a meeting of the Identification, Placement, and Review Committee (IPRC) and a subsequent meeting of the special education appeal board (SEAB) have the right to appeal to the Ontario Special Education Tribunal (OSET) or the Tribunal de l'enfance en difficulté de l'Ontario (TEDO). In order to appeal to the tribunals, the parent must have completed the IPRC and SEAB processes, discussed earlier in this part of the guide. The parent's appeal to a tribunal must be made within 30 days of receiving the SEAB decision. To make an appeal, the parent must write to the tribunal, saying that they want to appeal the SEAB's decision.

When filing an appeal to OSET, there are specific timelines and procedures to be followed. At the pre–hearing conference, the OSET invites the parties to consider mediation, a voluntary process that only takes place if both parties agree to it. The goal of mediation is to help the two parties reach a solution that resolves the issues in the appeal.footnote 2

Ontario Special Education Tribunals, created by the Education Amendment Act of 1980 (Bill 82), are mandated to provide final and binding decisions to resolve disputes between a parent and a school board concerning the identification and/or placement of an exceptional student.

The Ontario Special Education Tribunal hears appeals regarding the disagreement with a board's decision about the identification and/or placement of students who are enrolled in English–language public and Catholic school boards. The Tribunal de l'enfance en difficulté de l'Ontario hears appeals regarding the disagreement with a board's decision about the identification and/or placement of students who are enrolled in French–language public and Catholic school boards.

The tribunals are independent adjudicative agencies of the Government of Ontario. As of March 2011, the tribunals became part of the Social Justice Tribunals Ontario cluster, accountable to the Ministry of the Attorney General for their operational and business functions. (Prior to that date, the tribunals fell under the Ministry of Education. However, the change from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of the Attorney General has not altered the tribunals' mandate.)

More information about the two Ontario Special Education Tribunals, including information about mediation, can be found on the OSET website.

Footnotes