Webinar – June 2024 Supreme Court Decision: Understanding the Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ Practical Implications on Alberta Schools

Tuesday, September 24, 2024, 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.

Session is full. Registration is now closed.


This webinar is eligible for 1.5 CEP credits for regulated member’s professional learning.

  

Webinar Description:

In June 2024, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies to public schools in Ontario in York Region District School Board v. Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, which dealt with illegal searches of a teacher’s laptop.

Assuming Alberta courts would arrive at the same conclusion, this webinar addresses the areas where the Charter impacts the work of school board trustees, superintendents of schools, system education leaders and school administrators in the following areas:

  1. current technology used by school authorities: rights of teachers, non-teaching staff and students versus rights of the school authority as an employer
  2. artificial intelligence use by school boards, teachers and students and Charter implications
  3. accommodation of students with educational needs and the Charter
  4. trustee, teacher and student freedom of expression: what this means and how far does this freedom extend

This 90-minute webinar will focus on tangible steps system education leaders and school boards may take to stay onside with the Charter regarding:

  1. decisions with Charter implications and human resources for teachers
  2. decisions with Charter implications and school board trustees
  3. decisions with Charter implications and students
  4. decisions with Charter implications and school board employer searches of employees and students
  5. ensuring school board administrative policies comply with the Charter.

The webinar is intended for school boards and system education leaders in Alberta.

Presented by:

Teresa Haykowsky is a powerful and dedicated bilingual advocate for her clients. She provides practical advice and solid solutions based on her depth of knowledge in education law, labour and employment, constitutional, administrative, occupational health and safety, municipal, and privacy law.

Teresa has a strong commitment to exceptional service. She is dedicated to advising and representing public, separate, Francophone public, and Francophone separate school boards, charter schools and independent school authorities in the decisions they make to support education. In addition to her education law clients, Teresa assists municipalities, government, and the management-side of organizations from many different industry sectors.

Teresa provides legal advice and representation in the areas of day-to-day labour, employment and human resources matters, employment litigation, grievance arbitration hearings, collective bargaining, collective agreement interpretation, wrongful dismissals, draft of employment contracts and confidentiality agreements, workplace policies, including respectful workplace, OHS and general employment policies and practices. Teresa also works in all areas affecting school authorities in Alberta including corporate governance-related issues, governance training, school trustee codes of conduct, code of conduct trustee hearings, conflict of interest issues, school board hearings (teacher transfer, suspension and termination hearings, school closure hearings, student hearings) and internal investigations. Teresa also conducts workplace investigations in the areas of harassment, discrimination and allegations of inappropriate employee or student conduct.

Teresa has depth in the evolution and changes which have occurred in education law over the past twenty-five years. She is particularly well-versed in the School Act and the new Education Act. With her creativity and experience, she has the ability to look outside of purely theoretical or academic solutions.

Authentic and dedicated, Teresa’s reputation for reliable and smart advice is well-earned. Her clients have relied on her keen advocacy for decades. Teresa has a unique understanding of education (K-12) industry, as well as the law. She strives to understand what will work for each individual client and knows sometimes the law is only one part of what they’re looking for and other times it is the whole answer.