Petition in Support of Max’s Law
To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:
Maximus “Max” Simao was seven years old.

He was autistic. He was non-verbal. He loved school.

Max loved his classroom, his routine, his classmates, and the safety of being where he belonged.

But Max was placed on a shortened school day because the supports he needed were not there. Instead of being safely at school for the full day, Max was being sent home.

Max lost his life during a time when he should have been at school.

Now his name must become action.

Max’s Law is not being called for because one family is grieving. Max’s Law is being called for because the Auditor General confirmed that Ontario’s special education system has serious failures that are affecting children with disabilities across this province.

Across Ontario, children with disabilities are being sent home, placed on reduced schedules, denied full school days, excluded without proper documentation, and left without the supports they need because of staffing shortages, lack of resources, long waitlists, weak oversight, and system failure.

Families are being told there is not enough staff.

Families are being told their child can only attend part of the day.

Families are being called to pick up their children early.

Families are being left without clear written answers, proper timelines, real appeal rights, or meaningful accountability.

Children with disabilities are being denied full access to education not because they do not belong in school, but because the system has failed to provide what they need to be there safely.

That is wrong.

The Auditor General’s special education report confirmed what families, educators, and educational assistants have been saying for years: Ontario’s special education system is failing too many children with disabilities.

The report raised serious concerns about students being informally excluded or sent home without proper tracking, documentation, or accountability.

It raised concerns about inconsistent supports, problems with IEPs and IPRC decisions, long waits for assessments, unfilled educational assistant absences, staffing shortages, and weak provincial oversight.

These are not small issues.

These are system failures.

Max’s Law would directly address the biggest failures raised in the Auditor General’s report by creating clear province-wide rules, stronger parent rights, mandatory reporting, independent oversight, and real accountability when a child with a disability is denied full access to school.

Max’s Law would make it clear that no child should be placed on a reduced schedule, partial day, or informal exclusion because of lack of staff, lack of funding, or lack of support.

If a child’s school day is reduced, Max’s Law would require written reasons, timelines, documentation, reporting, and review.

It would stop these decisions from being hidden.

It would force the system to admit when children are being denied education because the supports they need are not in place.

This petition is for every parent who has ever been told, “We do not have the staff,” while their child lost hours, days, weeks, or months of education.

This petition is also for the teachers, educational assistants, principals, and school staff who know children need more support, but are being asked to hold together a broken system with too few resources.

This is not about blaming teachers, educational assistants, principals, or front-line school staff.

Many of them are doing everything they can in impossible conditions.

This is about making the Ministry of Education, school boards, and the Government of Ontario accountable for fixing the system instead of quietly pushing children with disabilities out of school.

A child’s right to education should not depend on whether there is enough funding that day, enough staff that week, or enough political will that year.

We are calling on Opposition MPPs to bring forward an Opposition Day Motion in support of Max’s Law.

We understand that Opposition MPPs face limits when trying to bring forward bills that require new government spending. That means an opposition member may not be able to introduce the full version of Max’s Law if it requires direct funding commitments from the government.

But that cannot be used as an excuse to do nothing.

An Opposition Day Motion would be a first step, not the finish line. It can force debate, expose where every MPP stands, and call on the Minister of Education and the Government of Ontario to act.

But only the government can bring forward the full funded law Ontario’s children need.

That is why we are also calling on a Progressive Conservative MPP, a member of the government caucus, or the Minister of Education to bring forward the full version of Max’s Law and finally take a stand for Ontario’s most vulnerable children.

The government has the power to change the law.

The government has the power to attach funding.

The government has the power to create accountability.

The government has the power to stop children with disabilities from being quietly pushed out of school.

We are asking them to use that power now.

We petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to call on the Government of Ontario to:
Support Max’s Law;

End the use of informal exclusions, reduced school days, and modified schedules caused by lack of staffing, funding, or supports;

Require province-wide reporting and tracking when students with disabilities are denied full school days;

Create independent oversight and stronger parent appeal rights;

Require clear written reasons, timelines, and documentation when a child with a disability loses access to school;

Respond directly to the failures identified in the Auditor General’s special education report;

Provide the staffing, funding, and accountability needed to keep children with disabilities safely in school;

Support an Opposition Day Motion calling for urgent action on Max’s Law;

And bring forward the full version of Max’s Law through a government member, Progressive Conservative MPP, or the Minister of Education.

Max’s Law is not about politics.

It is about children.

It is about safety.

It is about disability rights.

It is about education.

It is about making sure what happened to Max never happens to another child again.

No child should be sent home because the system is not ready for them.

No child should lose their education because adults failed to plan.

No family should have to fight alone for their child’s right to belong.

For Max.

For every child like him.

For the children still being failed today.

Support Max’s Law.