Findings of provincial review involving Waterloo Catholic board expected this week

A provincial third-party review of how the Waterloo Catholic District School Board handled a situation involving a four-year-old student's behaviour is expected to wrap up with a report released by Wednesday. 

Police said officers were called to John Sweeney Catholic Elementary School in Kitchener on Nov. 29 after receiving a report of a student in crisis who was said to be acting violently. Police said officers worked to de-escalate a situation, contacted a family member and drove the child home.

Advocates for Black children and families spoke out against the incident, suggesting the school board failed the child, whose family is Nigerian, by criminalizing the child. Advocates said the incident speaks to the anti-Black racism and discrimination that has existed in school systems for generations.

Days after the incident was revealed, on Feb. 25, Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce launched a review of the board's handling of the incident led by a representative from the ministry. It aimed "to provide objective analysis of the circumstances surrounding this event and with the mandate to recommend actions to the board to ensure it never happens again," the minister said in an emailed statement.

"Under no scenario should police be called to remove a four year old student from a school in this province. Black and racialized parents continue to deal with these unacceptable situations that only demoralize and harm their children and families," he said.

Report expected by Wednesday 

The province had said the report would be completed within two weeks and issued to the school board and family by March 11.

However, on Monday, the Catholic school board confirmed to CBC Kitchener-Waterloo that it does not yet have the report.

"The deadline we were provided for issuing the report is March 30. We will provide a statement at that time and an indication of how and when we will provide a more fulsome response," said Loretta Notten, director of education, in an email to CBC Kitchener-Waterloo. 

A spokesperson with the Ministry of Education did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Trustee meeting

In a school board meeting on Monday, trustees voted to defer two reports that recommended staff accept information outlining the board's compliance with policies that protect its reputation and students. 

The first report suggested the CEO must ensure no reputational damage come to the board. The second titled "treatment of students" suggested the CEO should not "cause or allow conditions, procedures, actions, or decisions that are unsafe, or unhealthy or inherently inequitable."

Both reports outlined the ways the board has acted on those policies, for example launching a multi-year strategic plan survey to stakeholders for feedback on governance and operation of the board.  

However, several trustees indicated they were not comfortable approving these reports. They said they preferred waiting for results to come back from the survey, as well as other data from a student census and school climate survey.

Trustee Wendy Price also pointed out the outstanding report from the province, among other concerns.

"Its not just the review, it's also what happened after the review in terms of a statement that was made and, yes, there was an apology … I do think there's going to be work required from us to move forward," said Price in the meeting.

Price was referring to an incident earlier this month during a question period with media, when Notten said she took "umbrage to the allegation that there is systemic racism in our board."

Notten later apologized and clarified her position in a statement: "I responded to a media question and in my attempt to state that we should not pre-determine the findings of the independent investigation, I instead indicated that I did not acknowledge the presence of systemic racism," said Notten.

"I unreservedly apologize for that comment. It does not reflect my personal position, nor the position of the Waterloo Catholic District School Board."

The reports were deferred until June.

Advocacy group calls for resignation

In a statement on Tuesday, the African Canadian Association of Waterloo Region and Area (ACAWRA) said Notten's apology was not enough, noting she should have engaged with the impacted community after the incident. 

The group said it supports a call for Notten to resign "as her response showed a lack of regard, care, and empathy for the African and Black experience in the school system."

The group said since the incident was brought to light, it has been overwhelmed with reports from Black families sharing their experiences with local school systems. The group said the slew of reports indicate the incident is not an isolated one.

"We state unequivocally that we remain committed to seeing that these institutions are held accountable," the statement said.

The group commended the work community organizations and the provincial government has done.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.