Montreal elementary school under investigation for 'toxic' learning environment

Quebec's Education Ministry has placed a Montreal elementary school under watch after an investigation found that teachers fostered a "toxic" environment that psychologically harmed students for years.

Reporting by Quebec radio station 98.5 FM in 2023 on incidents at the school led the ministry to launch an investigation, involving 73 interviews. It was conducted between Nov. 16, 2023, and April 19, 2024.

Witnesses quoted in an Education Ministry report published on Friday say some teachers at Bedford elementary school in west-central Montreal deny that autism and learning disabilities exist. The report says teachers allegedly said students who are struggling are "lazy" and "don't want to make the necessary efforts."

Some teachers appear to believe that they will be able to resolve student difficulties through "excessive" discipline, such as screaming and humiliation, according to the report.

"They act thinking they will 'break' the student and make them find the right path," one testimony says.

Most students at Bedford are allophones, and the school is located in the multicultural Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood.

The Education Ministry has sent two interveners to Bedford school in light of the findings. They are tasked with producing an action plan to re-establish a healthy and safe environment and propose solutions to redress teachers interfering with the school administration and the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM).

Education Minister Bernard Drainville said in an interview with Radio-Canada's Tout un matin on Friday that intimidating behaviour from a domineering group of teachers at the school is said to have started in the 2016-17 school year.

"The children, through all this, are obviously suffering from physical and psychological violence," Drainville said. "I don't understand how it is that we haven't received a single complaint. It's unbelievable."

Testimonies from the report also show some teachers prevented their students from speaking to children from other classes because of interpersonal conflict among co-workers.

CSSDM spokesperson Alain Perron said in a news statement on Friday that the school service centre will fully co-operate with the ministry.

"Students and staff of the concerned schools will receive continued and caring support," he said.

'Opposition of ideologies'

Eleven teachers at Bedford are under investigation for engaging in concerning behaviour, the ministry said.

Several witnesses interviewed by the investigators said some subjects like science, ethics and religious culture and sex education were either not taught or taught to very few students during the school year.

Drainville said he may ultimately revoke their teaching licences if they are found to have committed gross misconduct.

The minister confirmed that they are all still teaching at the school, but investigative committee members have 15 days to recommend that staff be suspended during the assessment if their presence is deemed harmful to children.

According to the ministry report, 98.5 FM has described teachers intimidating students and school administration as being part of a "clan," mainly composed of people of North African origin.

However, investigators noted in the report that while there may be two opposing groups among staff at the school, they are both made up of people of different origins, and investigators mainly observed "an opposition of ideologies."

"It is important to emphasize that although the majority clan is mainly composed of people of Maghrebi origin, people of other origins are also associated with it," the report said. "The minority clan is also partly composed of individuals of Maghrebi origin, including some who are strongly opposing the majority clan."

Audits will be conducted at three other CSSDM schools: Bienville and Saint-Pascal-Baylon elementary schools and La Voie high school, according to a news release by the Education Ministry published on Friday.

"These audit mandates are necessary because additional information on issues and problems similar to those reported at the Bedford school have been received," the news release said.