Page 16 - OSR 99- Eng.

4.4 MINISTRY AND SCHOOL BOARDS
The Education Act permits the compiling and delivery of information contained in an OSR if it is required by the Minister of Education or the school board. In instances where ministry staff members are seeking to collect information from OSRs, students who are adults and parents of students who are not adults will be notified.
4.5 COURTS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
Subsection 266(2) of the Education Act states that the OSR will not be produced in the course of any legal proceedings. There may be occasions, however, when access to the OSR of current students or former students will be sought. In such cases, boards should obtain legal advice from their lawyers in order to deal with such issues as the following:
– whether the Education Act in fact prevents the production of the OSR
– whether the OSR in question is relevant to the proceedings
– if the OSR is relevant to the proceedings, whether a copy, rather than the original, may be submitted to the court
All of these issues are relevant in both civil and criminal cases (see sections 4.5.1 and 4.5.2).
Both the municipal and provincial freedom of information acts permit disclosure of per- sonal information for the purposes of law enforcement. The conditions for disclosure and the definition of “law enforcement” are contained in the legislation. School boards should consult with their freedom of information coordinators and their legal counsel to determine whether they should develop policies on the disclosure of personal informa- tion in an OSR to courts and law enforcement agencies.
In court proceedings, subject to an appeal, the judge’s order must be followed. If a prin- cipal receives a court order requiring the release of an OSR, the principal should contact the board’s legal counsel. Although court orders must be followed, the principal should obtain legal advice about the issues listed above.
4.5.1 Civil suits
A principal may be served with a subpoena requiring that he or she appear in court on a particular date and bring part or all of an OSR. If a principal receives a subpoena, he or she must comply with it, but should obtain legal advice from the board’s legal counsel about the issues in section 4.5 above.
As a general rule, the principal should go to court with both the original OSR and a com- plete and exact photocopy of it, and should propose to the judge that the photocopy be submitted instead of the original. The principal should also inform the judge that the subpoena is inconsistent with subsection 266(2) of the Education Act. The principal must, however, relinquish the documents if ordered to do so by the judge.
March 2000 ACCESS TO THE OSR 15