When education feels like a prison sentence

Public auditors and the Ombudsman should have the authority to examine sensitive government documents independently. Real transparency demands it. Here’s the catch; who appoints the Ontario Ombudsman? You guessed it, the government.

This question of accountability echoed powerfully at the “Policing-Free Schools is Disability Justice: Knowledge-Mobilization and Calls-to-Action” conference, held Friday, October 10^th, 2025, at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) in downtown Toronto. The event, sponsored by Policing-Free Schools (PFS), the Disability Justice Network of Ontario (DJNO), and OISE’s Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education (LHAE), gathered educators, students, and advocates to confront one of the most pressing issues in education, the criminalization of marginalized youth.

The day opened with access notes, a roadmap, and a land acknowledgment by Ahona Mehdi, Education Coordinator at DJNO. Andrea Vázquez Jiménez, Director and Principal Consultant of Policing-Free Schools (Canada), followed with an African Ancestral Acknowledgement and Beyond, grounding the day in community and resistance.

“Ontario must dismantle the systems that police and punish students instead of protecting and empowering them.”

Jiménez also led the first session, “Bill 33 & The Provincial Campaign for a Policing-Free Schools Ontario.” She outlined three central ideas:

• The entrenched role of policing and carceral education in Ontario schools.
• Why we must move beyond “police-free” rhetoric and adopt frameworks like “policing-free,” “school-prison nexus,” and “carceral continuum.”
• The ongoing provincial campaign that continues beyond the fight against Bill 33.

The next session, “Grounding Us in Our Politics: Disability Justice in Education and Beyond,” facilitated by Brad Evoy (Executive Director, DJNO) and Ahona Mehdi, traced the deep roots of disability justice movements in Ontario. Together, they explored how struggles for justice: racial, economic, and disability-related intersect and influence one another. Their discussion connected historical injustice with present-day violence against disabled youth in schools.

In the third session, “Carceral Continuum in Education: Pre-K, K–12, and Post-Secondary,” Jiménez moderated a powerful discussion on how carceral systems manifest across all levels of education: through police presence, through discipline policies, surveillance, and exclusionary practices.

Panelists included:
• Rachel Brophy, Professor, George Brown College
• Beyhan Farhadi, Assistant Professor, OISE, University of Toronto
• Ahnaaf Hassan, Grade 12 student and TDSB Student Trustee
• Rosalind Hampton, Associate Professor, OISE, University of Toronto

The fourth session, “Beyond the Traditional Schooling Site: Youth Institutionalization and Segregation,” moderated by Megan Linton, expanded the discussion to institutions such as detention centers, psychiatric facilities, and group homes. Speakers unpacked the legacies of eugenics and systemic removal that continue to harm disabled and racialized youth.

Panelists included:
• Pam Reano, Phone Line Coordinator, DJNO Prison Project
• Jessica Evans, Community researcher and educator
• Julià Galloway, Abolitionist and Project Lead, Boxes for Our Sisters
• Julian Campbell, Youth Justice and Gang Intervention Expert

In the fifth and final session, “Prison Nexus: Caring Professions and Carceral ‘Care’,” moderated by Mehdi, panelists explored how helping professions (from child welfare to therapy) can reinforce carceral control under the guise of “care.”

Panelists:
• Sabreina Dehab, Ward 2 Trustee, Hamilton-Woodworth DSB
• Thaila Dixon, Executive Lead, Collective of Child Welfare Survivors (CCWS)
• Ameil Joseph, Associate Professor, McMaster University
• Helen Hargreaves, Neurodivergent Therapist and Director, Rainbow Brain

The day closed with a collective share-back and open mic. Participants reflected on the discussions, envisioning an education system that heals rather than harms. Jiménez led the closing call-to-action, while Mehdi offered final remarks that left the room charged with purpose.

The message was clear: disability justice is inseparable from educational justice. To achieve both, Ontario must dismantle the systems that police and punish students instead of protecting and empowering them.