Integrity czar responds to firing in Peel
Former commissioner points to ‘controversial circumstances’
The Peel board’s former integrity commissioner — who was let go last week — says she was “met with repercussions” by trustees.
In a statement to the Star, Sandhya Kohli — a lawyer and professor who serves as the integrity commissioner for several school boards — said she felt it “necessary to comment on recent events” at the Peel District School Board.
“As you are aware, the service of the integrity commissioner to this board was recently terminated,” she wrote. “There has been extensive media coverage of PDSB, and without divulging confidentialities, the media coverage indicates the presence of controversial circumstances that inform the PDSB’s actions.”
She said that “until my contract was terminated, I served the PDSB with integrity. I fulfilled my duties under the code of conduct and bylaws at PDSB with independence and impartiality. I endeavoured to uphold the standards at the PDSB, and to assist in advancing their ethical goals.”
She said she “acted with independence, and the highest ethical standards required of the Office of the Integrity Commissioner. Unfortunately, despite these efforts, my obligations have met with repercussions from the board of trustees.” The board announced Wednesday that it had ended Kohli’s contract and noted that its complaint process, pertaining to the trustee code of conduct, had also been suspended
— a process overseen by the integrity commissioner.
In a recent, scathing report by a trio of provincial reviewers, the Peel board was found to have ignored years of racism and concerns about equity, as well as growing dysfunction among trustees and with staff. In response, Education Minister Stephen Lecce issued 27 directives for the board to follow, with strict deadlines.
The three-person team came in after high-profile incidents, including one involving Trustee Will Davies, who referred to the diverse McCrimmon middle school as “McCriminal,” and after the senior administrator in charge of anti-discrimination filed a human rights case.
Their report, completed in March, found Black students are less likely to be enrolled in academic classes, are suspended at higher rates — for transgressions such as “wearing a hoodie” — and are discouraged from pursuing post-secondary education. They also found a lack of diversity in staff at the board, which serves Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon.
Last year, Kohli found Davies did not violate the board’s code of conduct, saying he used what he considered a “humourous slang term” in a private conversation, and was referring to his own children who had attended the Brampton school.
“I find nothing immoral, unethical, nor dishonourable in this action,” she wrote, saying his use of the term was “not tantamount to an act of racism” nor was there any evidence that he was “motivated by anti
Black sentiments” when he said it last June.
Last week, the Peel board said it “is committed to beginning a search to retain a new integrity commissioner. As this is a confidential, contractual matter, the board will not be commenting further on its decision.”
Reached Monday, board officials did not wish to comment further on Kohli’s contract termination, saying the earlier statement stands.
The board was not directed by Lecce to end the contract of the integrity commissioner.
Kohli is integrity commissioner for the York Region and Thames Valley public boards.
The Durham public board recently terminated her contract. When reached by the Star, Kohli did not wish to comment on that, but she previously told durhamregion.com that she was unable to do so because of confidentiality agreements.