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School safety
Our limited review did not locate one province-wide policy. Ask your board for its current written rule and separate location, audio, recording, and data-access questions.
Read time
About 5 minutes
For
Parents of children who elope
Updated
August 2026
In brief
The short version
Elopement is one of the most serious safety risks facing an autistic student, and a location device is one of the very few things a parent can supply directly. Families reasonably expect a clear rule about whether their child can wear one.
Our August 2026 review did not locate a province-wide policy specifically addressing parent-supplied GPS or wearable location devices in schools, and boards do not consistently publish their own. The result is that two children in neighbouring boards, with identical needs, can get opposite answers.
We are not going to fill that gap with a board-by-board table we cannot source. What we can do is separate the device functions a board may need to assess and show how to ask for the board's actual concern in writing.
Privacy questions
Consumer trackers vary. Some report location; some can transmit or record sound; and their apps may store or share data in different ways. A board may assess those functions differently. Do not assume which function is driving a refusal; ask the school to identify it.
School boards have obligations under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act when they collect, use, disclose, or retain personal information. Whether and how that statute applies to a particular parent-supplied device depends on the facts. Ask the board to identify the policy and privacy issue it relies on.
You can offer a narrowly tailored mitigation, such as disabling audio or recording if those functions are not needed, but that does not guarantee approval. It gives the board a more specific accommodation and safety request to assess.
How to ask
Step 1
Email the request rather than raising it at pickup. Name the safety need, reference any documented elopement history, and ask that the device be addressed in the safety plan within the Individual Education Plan.
Step 2
Audio capability disabled, device worn under clothing, data visible only to you, no recording function in use during the school day. This narrows the objection before it is raised.
Step 3
Request the specific board policy relied on. A refusal that cannot cite a written policy is a different conversation from one that can, and you need to know which you are having.
Step 4
Bring the safety documentation rather than restating the request. This is the level at which board-wide policy, as opposed to one principal’s judgement, is actually set.
Step 5
Trustees govern board policy. Where several families raise the same request, it stops being one child’s accommodation and becomes a policy question.
Being straight with you
We cannot tell you what your board’s policy says, because most boards do not publish one and we have not seen them. Anyone presenting a definitive Ontario-wide answer on this is guessing.
We have prepared a freedom-of-information request asking boards for their written policy on parent-supplied location devices, and for the number of students placed on a modified or reduced school day. When responses arrive they will be published.
Our August 2026 review did not locate a province-wide Ontario policy that specifically permits or prohibits a parent-supplied location device at school. That is a limited negative finding, not proof that no relevant rule exists. Ask the school board for the current written policy it relies on.
A device that transmits or records audio can capture staff and other students, so audio is one privacy issue a board may consider. Location collection, access to the data, retention, and recording functions can raise separate questions. Ask the board to identify its concern in writing and consider whether disabling a function addresses it.
Ask for it to be addressed in the safety plan within the Individual Education Plan. That ties the device to a documented disability-related safety need rather than an informal arrangement that can be withdrawn without notice.
Ask for the refusal in writing along with the specific board policy relied on, then escalate to the special education superintendent and your trustee. Where a refusal leaves a disability-related safety need unaddressed, it may raise a duty-to-accommodate question under the Ontario Human Rights Code.
| Date | Record | Publisher | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56 | Government of Ontario | Tier 1 |
| Tier 1 | Policy on accessible education for students with disabilities | Ontario Human Rights Commission | Tier 1 |
| 2026-08-08Tier 2 | Review of published Ontario school board policy on parent-supplied location devices | End The Wait Ontario | Tier 2 |
Related
A location device is one part of a plan. The rest belongs in the IEP, in writing, where it survives a change of staff.
How many children are on the Ontario autism waitlist in 2026?
VerifiedAs of May 13, 2026, 91,974 children are registered with the Ontario Autism Program. However, only 20,711 (22.5%) have an active Core Funding Agreement. This represents ~300% growth in registrations since 2019, with 71,263 children still waiting for essential funding.
Source: MCCSS FOI via OAC · May 2026 · Open source record
Is the Ontario Autism Program underfunded?
VerifiedThe 2026-27 Ontario Budget allocated $965 million for autism services, up from $779 million in 2025-26, while 91,974 children are registered. The budget record supports the current allocation; the historical FAO funding model is cited separately.
Source: 2026-27 Ontario Budget · Open source record
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