Toronto District School Board Trustees voted unanimously to support the province’s investigation into what prompted teachers from 15 schools to bring students to a political protest last week.
During a special school board meeting this week, trustees adopted the motion unanimously, affirming the TDSB’s full cooperation with the investigation announced recently by Education Minister Jill Dunlop after students as young as eight were compelled to participate in a field trip to a political protest.
That protest quickly turned into an anti-Israel rally, with teachers and organizers leading participants and students in anti-Israel chants.
The motion also asks the TDSB chair to write a letter to the education ministry with recommendations that include supporting the board’s ongoing review of policies and procedures, making public the final report with monthly updates, and that the investigation be completed no later than Dec. 1.
While it was initially thought only middle school students were brought to observe last week’s protest in support of Grassy Narrows First Nation and their ongoing water contamination crisis, the Toronto Sun reported that students as young as Grade 3 took part in the rally.
A note to parents from teachers at ALPHA Alternative Junior School said students would be standing “in solidarity” with the protest, and requested children be dressed in blue shirts to mark them as “settlers.”
Acting TDSB Board Chair Neethan Shan released a statement that students attended the protest to observe, not to take part.
The family of a Jewish Grade 8 student told the Sun that, upon telling her teacher the anti-Israel slogans were making her feel uncomfortable, she was told she’d “get over it.”
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