School Boards and Independent Schools

School boards and schools are highly scrutinized and regulated institutions with diverse and sophisticated legal requirements. That’s why you need the unmatched cross-practice expertise of BLG, the top choice of the largest boards and oldest schools in Canada for decades. No other firm offers the scope and depth of our experience – from union arbitrations to high-stakes litigation, school board real estate to tax – ensuring you get responsive, efficient and practical advice, in English or French, to lighten your load.

The practice is led by Melissa L. Eldridge, chair of BLG’s National School Boards Practice, an experienced and dynamic advocate singularly focused on achieving the best results for her clients. Melissa is a trusted adviser to school leaders, directors of education, trustees and boards of governors. In addition to her work for school boards, Melissa represents leading independent school associations and schools across Canada. She brings a unique perspective to her commitment to client service as a former school board general counsel and former governor of the board of an independent school.

Nadya Tymochenko and Gillian Tuck Kutarna are accomplished lawyers with decades of experience serving school boards and schools in the areas of human rights, special education and governance, in addition to labour and employment.

Our dedicated core team - including associates Hilary Chung, Callum Hutchinson, Katrina Martin, Erin Minuk and Agatha Suszek – is entirely focused on advising and acting for school boards and independent schools, ensuring clients receive the responsive, efficient and high-quality service they depend on.

We’ve seen it all before – thousands of times in the case of arbitrations – which means we don’t just follow best practices, we develop them.

BLG’s truly full-service national school boards and independent schools practice offers leading legal services on both the operational and disputes sides, including:

Collective agreement interpretation and grievance arbitration
Collective bargaining and interest arbitration
Governance, including policies and by-laws, trustee codes of conduct and conflicts of interest
Teacher and staff performance, discipline and discharge
Human rights advice and advocacy
Employment law and employment standards
Occupational health and safety and workers’ compensation
Litigation, including judicial reviews, constitutional law, and assault and defamation claims
Student discipline and safe schools, including expulsion hearings and suspension appeals
Special education law
School closure advice and litigation
Strikes and work-to-rule campaigns, unlawful strike applications and picketing injunctions
Child protection police investigations and crisis management
Construction and procurement
Real estate, including leasing
Municipal planning, including zoning, expropriation and environmental regulation
Corporate advice and contracts, including IT and license agreements
Tax law and tax risk management
Privacy and cybersecurity issues, ransomware threats, freedom of information requests, and use of technology (including generative AI chatbots)

We have represented school boards and independent schools before human rights tribunals, labour relations boards, student appeals bodies, and at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada.

Experience

Counsel to the largest public and Catholic school boards in Ontario in numerous arbitrations involving collective agreement interpretation, discipline and discharge, sick leave and disability management, teacher supervision and preparation and planning time, workplace health and safety (including Covid-19 issues), and job security.
Counsel to the largest school boards associations in central arbitrations and Ontario Labour Relations Board proceedings, including unlawful strike and unfair labour practice applications.
Successfully represented a school board in its response, at the Ontario Superior Court, to two applications for judicial review alleging infringement on rights to freedom of expression.
Successfully represented one of Canada’s largest school boards at the Ontario Superior Court in a matter involving the censure of a trustee.
Counsel to school leadership regarding assault allegations, including crisis containment, media response, advice regarding the investigation and working with police.
Acted as preferred cyber security breach counsel to member school boards of the Ontario School Board Insurance Exchange since it launched its cyber security insurance program.
Argued the leading case on the employment-related records exclusion in the Municipal Freedom of Information Act and other significant school board freedom of information appeals.
Assisted some of Canada’s largest school boards with surplus lands and properties, including disposition, long-term land leases and engagement with neighbouring landowners for innovative mixed-use developments.
Appeared at the Supreme Court of Canada in R v. Cole, a precedent-setting case about a high school teacher’s expectations of privacy regarding his work computer.
Acted for a Toronto independent school in its purchase of a neighbouring school, which was described by the headmaster as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” The purchase price was structured to include a leaseback, vendor take-back mortgage, third party financing, the creation of a new affiliated charity, a correction of the legal description of the property, and analysis associated with the potential redevelopment of the property.
Acted for one of the largest school districts in British Columbia on all land- and construction-related matters for many years, including the acquisition and build-out of many schools.
Acted for an independent school on a long-term lease for a brand-new campus tailored specifically for Grade 7 to Grade 12 students, including a robust outline of construction obligations for the landlord and tenant to convert the existing building to a school.

Counsel to the largest public and Catholic school boards in Ontario in numerous arbitrations involving collective agreement interpretation, discipline and discharge, sick leave and disability management, teacher supervision and preparation and planning time, workplace health and safety (including Covid-19 issues), and job security.
Counsel to the largest school boards associations in central arbitrations and Ontario Labour Relations Board proceedings, including unlawful strike and unfair labour practice applications.
Successfully represented a school board in its response, at the Ontario Superior Court, to two applications for judicial review alleging infringement on rights to freedom of expression.
Successfully represented one of Canada’s largest school boards at the Ontario Superior Court in a matter involving the censure of a trustee.
Counsel to school leadership regarding assault allegations, including crisis containment, media response, advice regarding the investigation and working with police.
Acted as preferred cyber security breach counsel to member school boards of the Ontario School Board Insurance Exchange since it launched its cyber security insurance program.
Argued the leading case on the employment-related records exclusion in the Municipal Freedom of Information Act and other significant school board freedom of information appeals.
Assisted some of Canada’s largest school boards with surplus lands and properties, including disposition, long-term land leases and engagement with neighbouring landowners for innovative mixed-use developments.
Appeared at the Supreme Court of Canada in R v. Cole, a precedent-setting case about a high school teacher’s expectations of privacy regarding his work computer.
Acted for a Toronto independent school in its purchase of a neighbouring school, which was described by the headmaster as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” The purchase price was structured to include a leaseback, vendor take-back mortgage, third party financing, the creation of a new affiliated charity, a correction of the legal description of the property, and analysis associated with the potential redevelopment of the property.
Acted for one of the largest school districts in British Columbia on all land- and construction-related matters for many years, including the acquisition and build-out of many schools.
Acted for an independent school on a long-term lease for a brand-new campus tailored specifically for Grade 7 to Grade 12 students, including a robust outline of construction obligations for the landlord and tenant to convert the existing building to a school.