Power play at Bowmore PS: an exercise in intimidation

You don’t need ICE thugs pounding the doors of your neighbourhood to remind you of the growing authoritarianism in our communities. It doesn’t only come in jackboots, but creeps in bit by bit, under different disguises. In education it’s posed as improved efficiency, bringing local school boards to heel or dumping educators deemed insufficiently compliant to meet the requirements of power. Action is the currency here. Communication and responsiveness have no place in an organization mobilized by the urge to stamp out debate or disagreement.

This has become the case with the Dark Tower of the Toronto DSB. For six months it has been run by Supervisor Rohit Gupta, a man with no experience in education, who has raised class size caps, changed the special education plan, said nothing about a mysterious budget surplus and fired TDSB Director Clayton La Touche because the Board needed a “fresh start.” Gupta and his boss, Minister of Education, Paul Calandra offer no explanation for any of these decisions. There are only a handful of public meetings and even these aren’t live-streamed so the community can watch what’s going on.

But that strategy only goes so far. Sooner or later some lower level official – a superintendent or principal for instance- is going to spend too much time under their cone of silence and forget that school communities won’t be compliant when their children’s education is at stake.

This is what’s happening at Bowmore Rd Jr and Middle Public School, one of the largest schools in the TDSB with 1 050 students and 90 staff. Like other schools it has had its challenges. Local trustee Michelle Aarts explained last week that, despite messages of social justice from staff and community alike, instances of anti-Semitism, racism and other disturbing behaviour, badly need to be addressed. School council member Mercedes Lee says that the Board administration staff have sheltered behind the right to privacy of kids to avoid discussing such safety issues. Aarts adds that local superintendent Anastasia Poulis, doesn’t return emails or communicate with members of the school community. Parents, upset about increasing reports of violent incidents demanded action at a meeting on January 12.

The Board’s action addressed compliance – not community concerns. In terse letters shortly after, Poulis informed the community that principal Konstantinos Flegas and vice-principal Jacqueline Neveu “will no longer be” at the school.” No explanation, no context, no discussion.

Then, on January 15, two much-admired teachers were fired. Two weeks later, eight more teachers were disciplined with unpaid suspensions ranging from three to seven days. That comes to 12 staff gone, 10 of whom make up the entire grade 7 and 8 teacher complement. Elementary Teachers of Toronto (ETT) president Helen Victoros told me: “In all of my time with ETT nothing like this has ever happened. It’s unprecedented.” By the way, this was summary not progressive discipline in which a teacher might have a discussion, receive a warning or possible a letter in their file.

What caused this? Since the Board has nothing to say, parents and educators are trying to fill in the blanks. Teachers at Bowmore have followed a co-teaching practice for the middle school kids there: one teacher looks after several subjects as another handles the remaining classes. It’s simple and straightforward; teachers there are a cohesive unit and have been fairly autonomous from school administrators – something not uncommon for such a large school. The now-departed principal sought to change this: teachers would follow a core model, teaching all subjects in their one home room class. Parents preferred the co-teaching model since it helped students forge connections with others as they got ready to go to high school. They even went as far as petitioning the Board to keep that model. The Board pushed back with Superintendent Poulis informing parents by letter that the core model was the way the school would go. Senior staff communication, throughout the process, according to parents and Trustee Aarts, was abysmal.

Extra- curricular activities are key to the atmosphere at Bowmore. Teachers volunteer their free time to do them; some handle as many as six. To be clear, they aren’t paid for this work but do it because they choose kids over working to precise contractual rules. The ten teachers involved had to change the way they taught – right away. They needed time to get ready to teach new subjects and “paused” extra-curriculars as Superintendent Poulis noted in a September 22 letter. There was no teacher revolt, no apparent insubordination and no refusal to work. Some teachers live in the community; all according to multiple parents who offered their views, are well-loved by students and parents alike.

School Council member, Mercedes Lee has twins- one in each of the classes of the teachers who were fired. She describes them as strong teachers who provided a wonderful experience for her children. Her kids were happy and benefitted from different teaching styles. One of the teachers was in the middle of organizing a grade 7 overnight trip – that won’t happen now. She sees the discipline of Bowmore teachers as being “targeted reprisal” for teachers’ reactions to the change.

As extraordinary as the Board’s reaction has been, TDSB senior staff have nothing to say beyond Communications Officer, Ryan Bird’s statement that: “We are committed to ensuring that all our schools are safe places to learn and work. We are actively working to address parents’ concerns, including bringing in additional supports to the school. With regard to questions about staff changes, we are very limited in what we can share about personnel matters for both privacy and legal reasons.” There is no statement from Gupta and nothing about the events leading up to this bizarre result. Parents are not asking for “additional supports;” they want answers and accountability for how this disaster came about.

As parent, Jenn Engel told supporters at a rally for Bowmore on Tuesday: “What is most alarming is not only the scale of disruption, but the absence of any consideration for the children.” That appears to be a second thought as the Board, under Gupta, has managed to turn something easily settled through communication, into a debacle.

Could it be a matter of incompetence? Are senior staff, bent on pushing an agenda, unable to find a way to negotiate a solution for conflict over it? Have they become so detached from their school communities that they can’t grasp the damage they are causing? This mess would likely not have happened, had there been a local trustee with experience in the community, able to say to higher ups: “This is  getting out of hand. Find a way out of the corner you’re in.” Questions requiring an actual answer would be asked at the Board level. But Gupta, with his unquestioned power, need not answer trustees who aren’t there.

Are Minster Pal Calandra’s fingerprints all over this issue? After all, he was the one who put 7 school boards under supervision, stepped on the power of remaining boards with Bill 33, heads a ministry that has cut education since its Tory overlords arrived in office and offers no plan to fund school boards properly. Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) president Dave Mastin said of the discipline on Tuesday: “This crossed Calandra’s desk, no question.” I asked the Minister’s office about his involvement; it wasn’t a shock to get no response.

Whatever the case, the Ministry of Education owns this problem. There needs to be an independent inquiry, not only into the extraordinary events at Bowmore PS but into the whole secretive nature of the Toronto DSB.  Paul Calandra should reconsider the value he derives from Rohit Gupta and his $350 000 per year salary and replace him with the elected trustees he sent packing last year. It would be a fresh start.

Meanwhile, parents and educators are fighting for their school and their teachers. ETT is filing grievance procedures to get the firings and suspensions overturned; they must fight these arbitrary moves and have the backing of their provincial counterparts at ETFO. Community members have started a Go-Fund-Me campaign that raised $14 000 in a few days. They are calling out the intimidation and union busting tactics of a school board that has decided to ignore its  communities and try to intimidate teachers when they don’t quietly acquiesce. You can’t fire a school community.