Education Minister Stephen Lecce said school boards should be fully transparent with parents in all aspects of their child's school life, including any decisions to change their name or pronouns.
"Parents must be fully involved and fully aware of what's happening in the life of their children. I mean, often there are health implications and I think we have to respect the rights of parents recognizing that these can be life-changing decisions," said Lecce.
At a news conference Monday, Lecce would not say whether Ontario would legislate the need for parental consent to change pronouns like Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have recently done.
"As an overarching value-system, I really do believe that parents need to be fully aware, fully engaged and school boards need to be transparent with parents. They are the legal guardians, they love their kids, they want to be aware of what's happening in the life of their children in their schools," said Lecce.
Lecce also stated that a student's safety should always be the number one priority for teachers and principals.
"There are exceptional circumstance where there can be situations of potential harm to a child. Educators are well versed on exactly what to do and who to turn to if they believe that child may be harmed for whatever reason," said Lecce.
He said the province will continue to safeguard the right of children to be safe.
