Better Safe than Sorry: How to Document for the Legal Battle I Hope You Never Have to Fight

As September approaches and it’s back-to-school season, parents are sending their children into a system that may — knowingly or unknowingly — be doing harm.

Whether this is your first year of school or your twelfth, you need to know how to document everything.

You might not even know your child has a disability when they enter school, but one day you may look back and see that the trail of harm was there all along. Let’s make sure that if that day comes, you have the documentation you need, because you never know what small piece of evidence might make a difference if you ever need to file a Human Rights Tribunal complaint.

It is always better to have documentation you never use than to wish you had it when it matters most.

Here’s how to start:

• Create a dedicated file for your child — both on your computer and in a physical binder.

• Save every piece of correspondence with the school: every email, every text, every letter.

• After every meeting, send a follow-up email summarising what was discussed and agreed upon.

• Keep copies of every report card, assessment, and IEP — even if you think it’s not relevant right now.

• Ensure meeting notes are taken (by you or someone you trust).

Document the harm so that you have a clear record if patterns emerge. Keep track of:

• Changes in your child’s behaviour, sleep patterns, mood, or physical health.

• Attendance records, including partial days or early pickups.

• Any changes in report card grades or comments.

• Willingness or refusal to attend school.

• Any therapy, counselling, or medical interventions your child begins, including dates and reasons.

Why this matters:

If the day comes when you have to prove that your child’s rights were violated, the burden will be on you to show the evidence. Memories fade. Records get “lost.” Staff change. Schools may minimize, downplay, or reframe events. Your documentation will be your sword, your proof, and sometimes make the difference in the justice you are entitled to.

Do not assume that because something was written down by a school, it will be kept or that you will be given a copy. Do not assume that someone else will track the details for you. If you do not have it in your own records, it may as well not exist. Even if it is in the school’s files, it can be hard to access, redacted beyond usefulness, or quietly removed.

Documentation begins and ends with you. It is your responsibility to collect, store, and protect the evidence of your child’s school journey. It is also your responsibility to ensure that the story is told accurately, in your own words, not rewritten to fit someone else’s agenda or to protect the system.

One day, in hindsight, you might realize, perhaps after your child hits rock bottom, is finally diagnosed, and you look back, that this has been years in the making. That you listened to the school’s advice for too long. That you trusted the wrong people. That you believed the lies you were told. And by then, you will wish you had every piece of proof to show what really happened.

Your records must be solid and factual. They should be detailed enough to capture what happened, yet clear enough to stand on their own without interpretation. Opinions can be challenged, but a well-kept record of dates, actions, and outcomes speaks for itself.

One day, it may be the difference between being heard and being dismissed. Between justice and injustice. Between your child being protected or being harmed again.

Your child deserves your vigilance.
Better safe than sorry. Document everything. Always.