Parents upset Toronto schools delay notification of hate-related incidents

TDSB policy was in place before Oct. 7

Before the Christmas break, Carly Cohen’s daughter found antisemitic graffiti in the washroom at Toronto’s Dublin Heights Elementary School.

The graffiti included an X drawn through a sketch of an Israeli flag and the Star of David, the words “Free palestine,” “get rid of the k-kes” and “hitler was right,” plus a sketch of a Palestinian flag and a sloppily drawn swastika. There was also the hashtag “Kill the jews.”

Cohen says her daughter sent her a photo of the graffiti on Dec. 5, which she immediately forwarded to school administration, who in turn passed it along to police. Yet, Cohen says, it took several days for parents to be notified about the graffiti.

“It must be reported to parents. There must be transparency between school administration and parents without delay. I call on you to reverse the rule that hides the truth from parents and ignores our children’s mental health,” Cohen said, in an impassioned speech to the Toronto District School Board’s governance committee Wednesday afternoon.

The Toronto District School Board, the largest in the country, which oversees the education of some 240,000 children, has been under fire for policy changes around the way that school administrators communicate hate-related incidents to parents. While there have been claims made that schools prohibit communication with parents over hate incidents, and that policy was adopted after the Oct. 7 attack, the policies around parental notification have been in place since 2020 and the policies around selective notification have been in place since 2022.

What the policy means is that schools don’t notify parents about every single hate incident. A small bit of graffiti, for example, or hateful words exchanged between students, might not trigger a letter to every parent in thes school. “The TDSB takes all allegations of hate and racism very seriously and investigates the reports we receive. Each incident of hate or racism is addressed on a case-by-case basis, and can lead to disciplinary action including suspension and/ or expulsion,” said TDSB spokesman Ryan Bird in an email.

Sending letters, Bird told The Canadian Press last November, could lead to the “identification, surveillance, and stigmatization of the specific students who may have been involved.” He said the board had found such publicity could inspire copycats.

Shelley Laskin, a TDSB trustee, said her understanding is that the communications policy was developed by TDSB staff, but trustees are discussing potential modifications to ensure there are clearer guidelines. For school administrators, Laskin said, there is “discretion about letters going out depending on the nature of the incident.”

Her view, though, is that parents should know about hate incidents and be told in some fashion.

“I do think communities have a right to know incidents of hate within their schools,” Laskin said in an interview.

Cohen and other concerned parents want to see more extensive notification.

In an interview with National Post, Cohen said “regardless if this protocol predated” Oct. 7, “it should have been fixed.

“It should have been revised and when there is a direct threat to an individual or particular community, race, religion, whatever you want to call it, parents are notified, police is notified, media can be notified. This should not be a secret,” she said.

In November 2023, weeks after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, more than 2,000 Toronto parents signed a letter that said parents have a “deep concern regarding the escalating incidents of antisemitism within Toronto schools.”

The board says it is working on a “distinct strategy” to combat antisemitism that would be separate from the board’s larger equity strategy.