Today’s Globe and Mail has a story that illustrates the culture of secrecy of the Toronto District School Board and apparent consequences for breaching that secrecy. The bolded parts are sections I found of particular interest.
Demoted vice-principal sues school board
JAMES BRADSHAW
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
February 7, 2008 at 4:21 AM EST
A former vice-principal of a Toronto elementary school is going to court today seeking remedy for what he claims were failures by the school board and Ontario College of Teachers to act on alleged threats and aggressive behaviour by the school's former principal.
Gary Pieters, now vice-principal at Carleton Village Public School, also states in court documents that he was demoted and penalized for reporting his allegations.
The documents filed with the court detail alleged misconduct between June, 2005, and February, 2006, by Gordon Kingsmill, then principal of the Shoreham Public School in the Jane-Finch area.
Mr. Kingsmill's lawyer, Sarah Colman, told The Globe and Mail that Mr. Kingsmill denies all allegations and that he was already cleared by two investigations.
The accusations include uttering a death threat against a teacher, pushing a Grade 2 student into a chair, expressing a desire to kick another Grade 2 student and threatening to burn a complaint against a teacher prepared by a Grade 5 student.
Mr. Pieters, who had been Mr. Kingsmill's vice-principal at Shoreham, states in an affidavit that he exhausted all internal complaint processes at the Toronto District School Board.
He then appealed to the Ontario College of Teachers, requesting that they submit his complaints to the discipline committee. The College of Teachers rejected the request. Mr. Kingsmill is presently principal at Agincourt Junior Public School.
Ms. Colman said in an interview that "Mr. Kingsmill has been through two thorough investigations," and that both "have determined that Mr. Pieters' allegations are without merit."
Ms. Colman also said that Mr. Pieters "did not witness directly many of the incidents he alleges occurred." The factum filed with the court details Mr. Pieters's presence at only two incidents.
Spokespeople for the school board and College of Teachers both declined comment because the matter is before the courts.
Mr. Pieters alleges in the court documents that he "faced retaliatory actions for blowing the whistle and consequences up to and including a Letter of Record in his personnel file, home assignment without duties, and a partial demotion" from full vice-principal to part-time status combined with duties as an ESL teacher, for which he is not certified.
The request for a judicial review comes less than a month after publication of a report on school safety, chiefly written by lawyer Julian Falconer, claimed that a culture of silence in the city's public schools led staff to avoid reporting misconduct for fear of repercussions.
Mr. Pieters's submissions to the court also complain that the College of Teachers relied "on a materially flawed and procedurally unfair" report by a school board investigator, and that the college investigator failed to review evidence.
But Ms. Colman said the board investigator was "an independent third party," and the College of Teachers "spent months investigating the allegations and interviewing witnesses."
Showing posts with label whistleblowing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label whistleblowing. Show all posts
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
School Safety - Part 3
Once more, I have included in bold print the parts that seem particularly pertinent to teachers. As well, the politically expedient comments of Gerry Connelly, the Director of Education for the TDSB, have been bolded. One fact the article fails to make clear is that any criticism of your employer can be grounds for dismissal, undoubtedly another reason for the culture of fear and concealment endemic in education.
SCHOOL SAFETY: UNREPORTED ASSAULTS
Violent incidents hushed up, union says
CAROLINE ALPHONSO
January 12, 2008
Toronto's high-school teachers' union confirmed yesterday that educators are told by administrators to keep safety issues quiet for fear of damaging their schools' reputations.
Simultaneously, principals moved to tackle the hundreds of unreported violent assaults taking place on school grounds in the wake of a damning report on school safety.
Doug Jolliffe, president of the Toronto district of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, said union members are reluctant to speak out about violence because they are rarely protected by their superiors.
A culture of fear permeates the TDSB, Mr. Jolliffe said, echoing the conclusion drawn by criminal lawyer Julian Falconer, who led a high-profile investigation into the issue.
His panel heard from employees of the Toronto District School Board, who said that revealing violent incidents in schools, including robberies and sexual assaults, would be "career-limiting" because it would reflect negatively on the board.
Mr. Falconer was asked to report on school safety after 15-year-old Jordan Manners was shot to death at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute in May.
The panel's final report, made public this week, describes the country's largest school board as rife with violent attacks swept under the rug.
"The principal's argument would be if this stuff gets out, it reflects badly on the school," Mr. Jolliffe said. "If it reflects badly on the school, then we'll have fewer students here. If we have fewer students, then we're going to lose jobs here."
The union chief added: "I don't agree with that, but that's what they say to people."
Meanwhile, principals met with the TDSB's director of education, Gerry Connelly, to discuss the report. Principals were asked to speak with staff, students and parents about what can be done to rectify the problem.
"One of my main priorities is to ensure that we have a culture of trust and openness," Ms. Connelly said.
"Fear of reprisal ... was most unfortunate."
Unfortunate, but very real, Mr. Jolliffe said.
"We can't afford to do that any more. We need to figure out what we're going to do about it," he said. "We need to make our schools safer."
SCHOOL SAFETY: UNREPORTED ASSAULTS
Violent incidents hushed up, union says
CAROLINE ALPHONSO
January 12, 2008
Toronto's high-school teachers' union confirmed yesterday that educators are told by administrators to keep safety issues quiet for fear of damaging their schools' reputations.
Simultaneously, principals moved to tackle the hundreds of unreported violent assaults taking place on school grounds in the wake of a damning report on school safety.
Doug Jolliffe, president of the Toronto district of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, said union members are reluctant to speak out about violence because they are rarely protected by their superiors.
A culture of fear permeates the TDSB, Mr. Jolliffe said, echoing the conclusion drawn by criminal lawyer Julian Falconer, who led a high-profile investigation into the issue.
His panel heard from employees of the Toronto District School Board, who said that revealing violent incidents in schools, including robberies and sexual assaults, would be "career-limiting" because it would reflect negatively on the board.
Mr. Falconer was asked to report on school safety after 15-year-old Jordan Manners was shot to death at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute in May.
The panel's final report, made public this week, describes the country's largest school board as rife with violent attacks swept under the rug.
"The principal's argument would be if this stuff gets out, it reflects badly on the school," Mr. Jolliffe said. "If it reflects badly on the school, then we'll have fewer students here. If we have fewer students, then we're going to lose jobs here."
The union chief added: "I don't agree with that, but that's what they say to people."
Meanwhile, principals met with the TDSB's director of education, Gerry Connelly, to discuss the report. Principals were asked to speak with staff, students and parents about what can be done to rectify the problem.
"One of my main priorities is to ensure that we have a culture of trust and openness," Ms. Connelly said.
"Fear of reprisal ... was most unfortunate."
Unfortunate, but very real, Mr. Jolliffe said.
"We can't afford to do that any more. We need to figure out what we're going to do about it," he said. "We need to make our schools safer."
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
The Vindictive Nature of Boards
I'm sure we have all had the experience of 'peeking behind the curtain' and seeing the often petty and vindictive nature of boards and their minions, thereby offering a sharp contrast to the gentle and humane public persona they want everyone to see. Today's Globe and Mail offers such a peek in an article entitled 'Teacher faced retaliation, lawyer says.'
The story details the career consequences to a teacher who made the mistake of sending an email to the parents of her students about a massive rodent infestation that raised the allergen level in her classroom to health-threatening levels. Predictably, the board denies that their punitive actions had anything to do with the teacher's whistle blowing.
The story details the career consequences to a teacher who made the mistake of sending an email to the parents of her students about a massive rodent infestation that raised the allergen level in her classroom to health-threatening levels. Predictably, the board denies that their punitive actions had anything to do with the teacher's whistle blowing.
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