Effective on Friday, changes to the controversial Ontario Safe Schools Act mean school principals will no longer have the power to expel students.

Instead, that power will rest with the school boards.

The changes will also require school boards to provide educational programs and counselling to students who have been expelled or are on a long-term suspension, and will prevent schools from automatically suspending or expelling students for bad behaviour.

Instead, those discipline options must be considered alongside alternatives such as meetings with parents or referrals to a community agency.

The legislation, revised by Dalton McGuinty's Liberal government, also increases school boards' powers in one area - they can discipline students for bullying that happens online or off school property.

The original legislation, introduced by the then Conservative government of Mike Harris in 2000, allowed schools to set mandatory suspensions or expulsions for certain infractions, and it shifted the power to expel students from the school boards to principals.

Effective on Friday, changes to the controversial Ontario Safe Schools Act mean school principals will no longer have the power to expel students.

Instead, that power will rest with the school boards.

The changes will also require school boards to provide educational programs and counselling to students who have been expelled or are on a long-term suspension, and will prevent schools from automatically suspending or expelling students for bad behaviour.

Instead, those discipline options must be considered alongside alternatives such as meetings with parents or referrals to a community agency.

The legislation, revised by Dalton McGuinty's Liberal government, also increases school boards' powers in one area - they can discipline students for bullying that happens online or off school property.

The original legislation, introduced by the then Conservative government of Mike Harris in 2000, allowed schools to set mandatory suspensions or expulsions for certain infractions, and it shifted the power to expel students from the school boards to principals.

It created an environment of zero tolerance and resulted in large numbers of suspensions and expulsions.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission found the act had a disproportionate impact on black students and students with disabilities.

Lynn Scott, chair of the Ottawa-Carleton district school board, said she doesn't think the changes represent a softening of school discipline, but rather a different approach.

"We'll continue to be quite intolerant of bad behaviour," she told CBC Radio's All in a Day on Thursday. "The difference here is that we'll also be looking not just to discipline the problem but also to change the behaviour."

Students expelled for minor infractions

Lawyer Lora Patton, who started working with families in northwest Toronto four years ago, said most of the expulsions that took place under the old version of the act were for relatively minor infractions.

"Most of the student removals from school were for things like questioning authority, wearing a hat when they weren't suppose to wear a hat," she said.

Colin Fleming, who helps to implement the Safe Schools Act with the Toronto District School Board, said the amendments to the act move the focus away from zero tolerance.

"Progressive discipline, in a nutshell, is a way to look at interventions at the school level in a proactive sense before the time that formal discipline needs to be meted out," he said.

If that doesn't work, principals will still be able to suspend students, though homework and programs will be given to students who are suspended.

And even though principals will no longer be able to expel students directly, the amendments allow them to recommend expulsion to their school board.

Donald Stuart, a high school principal and vice-chair of the Toronto School Administrators Association, is encouraged by the changes, but sees holes in the new policy, as well.

"The requirement for in-school suspension: supervision that's needed to do that effectively is not in place. We're struggling already in secondary schools to provide adequate supervision," he said.