Toronto school delays telling parents about #KillTheJews graffiti

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Before Christmas break, Carly Cohen's daughter found anti-Semitic graffiti in the bathroom at Toronto's Dublin Heights Elementary School.

The graffiti includes an X drawn over an outline of the Israeli flag and Star of David, the words “Free Palestine,” “Get rid of the K-neck” and “Hitler was right,” along with a sketch of the Palestinian flag and a sloppy swastika. There was also the hashtag “KillThe Jews”.

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Cohen said his daughter sent him a photo of the graffiti on Dec. 5, and he immediately forwarded it to school administrators, who in turn turned it over to police. However, Cohen said it took several days for parents to report the graffiti.

“Parents should be informed about this. There should be transparency between school administration and parents without delay. I urge you to change the rule that hides the truth from parents and ignores the mental health of our children,” Cohen said in a speech to the Toronto District School Board's governance committee Wednesday afternoon.

The Toronto District School Board, the nation's largest, which oversees the education of nearly 240,000 children, has come under fire for a policy change regarding how school administrators report hate incidents to parents. Schools prohibit communication with parents about hate incidents, and although there are claims that the policy was adopted after the October 7 attack, the policy on notification to parents dates back to 2020 and the policy on selective notification has been in place ever since. 2022.

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The point of the policy is that schools do not notify parents of every hate incident. For example, a little graffiti or hate speech between students may not be a reason to write a letter to every parent in the school.

“TDSB takes all allegations of hate speech and racism very seriously and investigates any reports we receive. Each incident of hate speech or racism is handled on a case-by-case basis and may result in disciplinary action, including suspension and/or expulsion,” TDSB spokesman Ryan Byrd said in an email.

Last November, Bird told The Canadian Press that sending the letter could lead to “identification, surveillance and stigmatization of specific students who may be involved.” He said the board found that kind of publicity would inspire copycats.

Shelley Laskin, a TDSB trustee, said it was her understanding that the communications policy was developed by TDSB staff, but trustees are discussing possible changes to ensure there are clear guidelines. According to Laskin, school administrators “have a choice about whether to release letters depending on the nature of the incident.”

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She believes that parents should be aware of incidents of hate speech and should be told in some way, perhaps in a letter to parents or in the principal's semi-regular newsletter for parents.

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

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

“TDSB must take immediate action to combat anti-Semitism because it is now a security issue,” Cohen told the committee.

In an interview with the National Post, Cohen said that “even though this protocol was before October 7th,” “it should have been corrected.”

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

In November 2023, just weeks after the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, more than 2,000 Toronto parents signed a letter saying parents were “deeply concerned about the escalating incidents of anti-Semitism in Toronto schools.”

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At the time, the school board said incidents of anti-Semitism had increased since the attack and since the start of Israel's war against Hamas.

“Also, in addition to disciplinary action, TDSB provides anti-hate and anti-racism education to students and staff, including anti-Semitism education in accordance with TDSB's anti-hate and anti-racism strategy,” the statement said. CP24, Toronto news channel.

The board is also working on a “special strategy” to tackle anti-Semitism, which is separate from the board's larger equity strategy.

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