TCDSB Policy Register 

APPREHENSION OR ARREST OF PUPILS S.18

POLICY:  

The Toronto Catholic District School Board will cooperate with:

1.         The  appropriate  children’s  aid  society  whenever such society seeks to apprehend a child who may be  apparently in need of protection, and 

2.         Police or Immigration officers whenever they find it essential in the interest of justice to arrest/apprehend a pupil while at school, each in the discharge of their statutory obligation.  

REGULATIONS:  

1.         Arrest/Apprehension by Police or Immigration Officers  

The Board permits access to Police and other law enforcement officers in accordance with the Police/School Board Protocol currently in effect. In general, access to pupils should be related to issues/events directly related to the school and which would normally result in the application of the School Code of Conduct. 

In the case of an Immigration officer from the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), they will not have access to a pupil except: 

(a)        at the request of the parent or legal guardian for the purpose of family reunification; or

(b)        for the reasons of national security or serious criminality, and only then with the prior approval of a senior CBSA official in Ottawa and the Immigration  officer must have a legally valid authorized order for the apprehension of the pupil. 

Refer to Access to Pupils, S.15, for school procedures to be followed.  

2.         Apprehension by Children’s Aid Society  

A pupil may be apprehended in accordance with the Child and Family Services Act.  The power and duties of a children’s aid society may be exercised with or without a warrant. The procedures to be followed are outlined in the current TCDSB Child Abuse – Procedures for the Identification and Reporting of Suspected Child Abuse document.

3.         Advising Parents/Guardians of Arrest/Apprehension  

When a student who is a minor has been removed from the school and in accordance with direction from an officer or child protection worker, but by the end of the school day as the child is removed, the principal/designate shall notify the parent/guardian of what has happened.

Where the principal/designate is not able to make contact with the parent/guardian, the principal/designate will document all attempts to make contact.