John Fisher Public School on Erskine Ave in Toronto on March 7.Handout
An Ontario principals’ group says it is “troubled” that the Toronto District School Board would apologize for alleged incidents of anti-Black racism involving a six-year-old child even before beginning an investigation.
The principal, vice-principal and a teacher at John Fisher Junior Public School were placed on home assignment after the child’s mother and an advocacy group, Parents of Black Children, alleged earlier this week that the boy was forced to sit in a corner away from his classmates and was also isolated in a room.
The Ontario Principals’ Council (OPC) said in a statement on Wednesday that while it supports eliminating systemic racism in public education, “we have become increasingly concerned about deliberately false narratives aimed at destroying the reputations and lives of dedicated educators who are carrying out this important work.”
A recent Globe and Mail story highlighted that principals at the TDSB are being placed on paid administrative leave far more often and for longer stretches than their counterparts at other Ontario public boards.
One principal has been home for almost three years.
TDSB spending millions on administrative leave for principals, data shows
The lengthy home assignments are not disciplinary, but happen when administrators are investigated after allegations of misconduct. The process costs the TDSB millions of dollars and the investigations are done with little to no transparency, principals told The Globe.
In its statement on Wednesday, the OPC called the practice of sending administrators on home assignment “unfair, inequitable and damaging” because they don’t have “access to an objective process that addresses unproven allegations.”
“Once again, we urge the TDSB to return these educators to their school at the earliest opportunity,” the OPC said.
Peggy Sweeney, a spokeswoman for OPC, said the organization would not comment beyond its public statement.
Ryan Bird, a spokesman for the TDSB, said in an e-mail on Wednesday that “when reports of this nature are brought to our attention, we have no option but to take them very seriously.” He said the board is working to investigate the incidents as soon as possible, which involves hearing from the staff involved.
The school board issued a statement on Monday in which it apologized to the student and his family.
Faridah, the mother of the six-year-old boy, told The Globe in an interview earlier this week that her son, who is in Grade 1, was regularly sent to the main office for what school staff characterized as disruptive behaviour. The Globe is not using Faridah’s full name to protect her son.
She alleged that her son was isolated in a room by the principal, and while in his classroom, his desk was separated from his peers.
Faridah said she didn’t understand why her son was being subjected to this treatment. To that end, she attached a recording device to him in late January, and heard what allegedly transpired at the school.
The OPC said on Wednesday that it was “confident that once this incident is thoroughly investigated, the evidence will show that the student in question was never placed in the room depicted in the media reports, let alone with a closed or locked door.”
The OPC added that the educators involved are not allowed to comment while the alleged incidents are being investigated, but that the organization and its members are co-operating with the TDSB and police.
Caroline Alphonso