Every Student Matters Census

School boards across the province are required by the Ministry of Education to administer a Student Census with their school communities to better understand the needs of student populations and school communities. The Census gathers demographic data (statistical information) to help us better understand the students and communities we serve.

• Parents/caregivers of JK-Grade 4 students are asked to complete the Census online with a unique access code, at home with their child/student. The code and instructions will be shared with parents/caregivers via the email address they provided to the school. Paper copies of the Student Census can be requested from the school office.
• Students in Grades 5-21 will complete the Census in class with a unique access code, unless their parents/caregivers have requested that they do not complete the Census. Students will receive an email invitation sent to their KPR email address. 

No. Completing the Student Census completion is voluntary; however, a high level of participation allows for more complete information about school communities. High participation rates during the last Census in 2019 resulted in valuable information to inform programs and services.

• Parents/caregivers of Grade 5-12 students may request that their child not participate in the Student Census. Please click here to opt your student out of the Census.
• Parents/caregivers who would like their child to be exempted from participating in the KPRDSB Student Census may request an exemption at any time before November 24, 2025 at 4:00 p.m.
• Student date of birth and Ontario Education Number (OEN) are required to complete the opt-out form. The OEN can be found on student report cards, which are available on Edsby.
• If a parent/caregiver does not submit a request to opt-out, students are still free to choose not to participate in the Student Census. Students can also choose not to answer any of the individual questions. 

The Student Census is voluntary. Students and parents/caregivers may choose to skip questions or select ‘Not Sure’. However, please note that the higher the completion rate, the richer and more reliable the information will be for board and school improvement planning. 

There are three different versions of the Census, (Parents/caregivers of Kindergarten to Grade 4 students, Grade 5-6 students, and Grade 7-12 students).

The Student Census consists of two types of questions. The first are demographic questions that allow us to understand the diversity of KPRDSB students. The questions include gender, sexual orientation (Grade 7-12 student survey only), religion, ethnicity, race, languages, nationality, and disability. The second type of questions are about well-being and life at school.

KPRDSB is committed to addressing barriers to student success, creating more equitable and inclusive school environments, and improving student achievement and well-being.  While Ontario’s education system is ranked among the best, it doesn’t serve all students equally. Collecting this data allows us to identify where there are gaps for groups of students, and address them.  

Under the provincial Anti-Racism Act and at the direction of the Ministry of Education, all school boards are required to collect identity-based data. This information helps us better understand who our students are and how they experience learning in our schools, so we can more effectively support their needs. 

The Census is confidential, but not anonymous. Each census is assigned a unique code to link responses with other data, such as program participation, academic achievement, and suspensions. This allows KPRDSB to identify groups of students who may be underserved and to develop or adjust programs, policies, and teaching practices, as well as allocate resources to improve school environments. 

We respect the privacy of students and parents/caregivers. Data is collected in a secure manner in accordance with applicable privacy legislation and best practices. KPRDSB collects personal information in compliance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA). MFIPPA sets out the rules for how school boards must collect, retain, disclose, and dispose of personal information to ensure it remains protected.  Each Census has a unique access code assigned to protect confidentiality and support security of information. 

Data from the Student Census is stored on internal KPRDSB servers and will only be accessed by a small number of staff and research consultants, to analyze the data. Reports will never single out or identify a student or family, and will only be reported in a summarized way, to provide understanding of school communities' needs.

Teachers, principals and other board staff will NOT have access to the individual responses of any student.

Students and parents/guardians can select their preferred language when completing the Census by adjusting their Internet browser’s language setting and accessing Google translation (machine translation).