No proof of wrongdoing, TDSB says

Principal, vice-principal, teacher have been on home assignment since allegations in March 2023

- JANET HURLEY

In 2023, a mother alleged her then six-year-old son was the victim of 48 incidents of anti-Black racism at John Fisher Junior Public School.

A Toronto public school board investigation has found no evidence of wrongdoing at John Fisher Junior Public School following a mother’s allegation that her son had been subjected to dozens of incidents of anti-Black racism including being locked in a small room.

The finding comes a year and a half after the initial complaint resulted in the school’s principal, vice-principal and a teacher being placed on home assignment while Toronto Police Service, the Children’s Aid Society and the Toronto District School Board conducted their own inquiries.

TDSB announced in a letter to the John Fisher community on Friday that a third-party investigator concluded the allegations were not substantiated as being in violation of any school board policies or procedures, or of the Ontario Human Rights Code.

“I know this has been a challenging time for the school community and most of all, for the people directly involved,” TDSB superintendent Roni Felsen said in the letter. “I want to thank you for your patience and understanding as we have worked through this complex process.”

Felsen also acknowledged “the strong leadership” of the administrators and the teacher’s dedication: “This process has been difficult for each of them.”

The teacher will be back at John Fisher, in the Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue neighbourhood, in September. The principal — on alternate assignment since December, supporting the opening of another school — has decided to retire, and due to operational size reasons, John Fisher no longer requires a vice-principal, so that administrator has been appointed elsewhere.