Parents of children at a Montreal elementary school where 11 teachers were suspended with pay after reportedly creating a “toxic” environment for the kids say they are distraught and concerned.
A government investigation reported the teachers fostered a climate of fear and intimidation at Bedford Elementary School in Côte-des-Neiges.
“It feels bad to us because we don’t know what’s really going through with our kids,” one parent, who requested anonymity, told CityNews.
“We’re just worried about my daughter for now, because the other teachers, we don’t know their attitude, but her teacher is good,” one father said.
The teachers were suspended after a request – described as unprecedented – by the Centre de services scolaires de Montréal (CSSDM). The decision was made Thursday and announced Saturday.
As of Monday afternoon no grievances had been filed, as the Alliance des enseignantes et enseignants de Montréal says it is working to gather enough information on each individual file. Grievances could be filed later, the group says.
A damning ministerial report made public Oct. 11 probed allegations of a toxic climate within the school after concerns were raised about the physical and psychological safety of students.
The report said the teachers formed a “dominant clan,” allegedly refusing to recognize that autism exists and refusing to teach sexual education or science. They reportedly imposed strict, autocratic rule over students and intimidated and ostracized anyone who opposed them.
“The evidence gathered tends to show that some teachers at Bedford school would benefit from developing their knowledge and understanding of learning disabilities and neurodevelopmental disorders,” the report stated, noting that some teachers believed excessive discipline and control would work, and denied kids additional help to which they were entitled.
“They act with the idea of ’breaking’ the student and getting them back on the right path,” it read.
Last week, the Quebec government appointed monitors to address the climate at the school.
“Adults who are supposed to take care of our kids are taking care of themselves before taking care of our kids, taking care of their ideas of their ideology, as the report says. I mean, this is completely unacceptable,” Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville told CityNews on Oct. 11.
Drainville said on social media Saturday that he acknowledged the suspensions, adding the investigative committees are at work. A report is expected by Nov. 30.
“It’s going to help everyone cope with especially the children that they told us that they were affected,” a mother of a student at the school said. “So I think it’s going to help the children back on track.
“It’s for the best for everybody. So I hope that it’s going to continue to be better as soon as possible.”
Drainville was on Radio-Canada’s “Tout le monde en parle” Sunday night and said the union “should have acted to defend the teachers who were fighting” against the “dominant clan.”
“It’s quite worrying to hear the minister make comments like that, since he is supposed to be aware of the roles and responsibilities of the union, but also of its managers,” said Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre, president of the Alliance des professeures et des professeurs de Montréal. “And in this case, when the minister says that we were aware of things and that we did not act, that’s where it’s wrong.
“If ever teachers filed complaints of harassment, it would have been to the management of the school and then it would have been brought to the school service centre.”
On Monday, the CSSDM’s director general Isabelle Gélinas did not comment further. The service centre told CityNews, “With the Minister’s confidence, Gélinas is devoting herself to the work underway to restore a healthy and safe environment in Bedford and is fully cooperating in the context of the audit mandates in three other schools.”
The government’s investigation was triggered by a series of radio reports by Montreal 98.5 FM beginning in May 2023 about a toxic climate at the school. Education department employees conducted more than 102 hours of interviews with 73 people and attended a governing board meeting. Their work was carried out between November 2023 and last April.
–With files from The Canadian Press