Schools Out of Control and in Chaos: Where’s the Leadership and Why the Paralysis?

An open letter with shocking revelations of student misbehaviour has dominated Canadian public education discussion for the past month or more.  Written by a deeply concerned teacher, the explosive letter surfaced on May 23, 2023 at Tomken Road Middle School in the Applewood Heights neighbourhood of Peel Region west of Toronto. It revealed, in stark detail, a litany of hair-raising examples of student violence and misconduct in a school said to be in a ‘deplorable’ state with students acting completely out-of-control.  

            Months if not years of registering concerns with the Middle School principal and Peel Region administration went nowhere and finally, out of sheer desperation, the teacher decided to go to the media with the inside story.  Appearing on CTV News and CBC-TV News in silhouette form with a disguised voice, the teacher whistleblower provided a compelling description of the ‘uncontrollable violence’ and complete disorder reigning in the Grade 6 to 8 school with some 900 students.

            “Every morning I wake up and I’m scared to go to work,” the teacher told CTV News. “I fear to go walking down the hallways and possibly put myself in a position where have to have a dangerous interaction with a student.”  The teacher’s greatest fear was “for the safety of the students” and there were “many days I’ve just cried because I’m so sad for the kids.” 

            The accompanying letter identified some twenty separate examples of glaring acts of misbehaviour, open defiance, and complete disrespect shown toward teachers as well as student peers.  What began during the 2021-22 school year, has only escalated since September 2022.  Students were reported to be routinely verbally abusing one another, threatening fellow students and staff with physical violence, writing hateful speech on walls targeting teachers’ ethnicities, uttering homophobic slurs, defecating on the bathroom floor, spreading feces on the wall, along with filming and distributing fights taking place before, after and during school hours.

            Confronting the very lurid and horrifying revelations, the school principal and board officials went to ground, at first trying to deny some of the claims, then attempting to discredit the teacher and her staff allies. Claiming that the allegations were “not accurate” did not work, nor did the usual line of defense that the board put its faith in “progressive discipline” and “restorative approaches” to student behaviour.

The Peel administration’s response speaks volumes about how school systems practice damage control and seek to silence teachers speaking out of school.  Teaching staff members tried unsuccessfully to get through to Principal Nicholas Berardi for help to improve conditions from September 2022 until mid-May 2023.

After months of “inaction,” at least 51 per cent of staff asked for a meeting with Peel Superintendent. Dahlia Battick. According to the teacher, Battick agreed to meet for two hours over two days, but simply didn’t show up for the first meeting. When a meeting was finally held, a senior teacher outlining the serious occurrences was cut-off in mid-sentence, voices were raised, and nothing much was accomplished.

The Tomken Road teacher’s letter went beyond identifying regular and recurrent acts of misbehaviour to provide a clear, coherent and common sense policy prescription: “As a staff we are looking to reinstate some type of structure at our school. We want to ban cell phones. We want students to take responsibility for their actions. We need higher expectations and we need standards. We are also desperately seeking consequences for misbehaviour.”

Instead of changing course and addressing the serious problem of student misbehaviour, the Peel Board has doubled down and, according to a recent National Post investigation, is attempting to pin the blame on the whistleblower and concerned teachers in the school. While the principal has been removed and a board team parachuted-in, there’s plenty of evidence of a cover -up operation. The publishing of an anonymous letter was initially treated as a violation of privacy and the author subjected to unwarranted scrutiny. 

            The official Peel Board response smacks of duplicity.  While the board is putting a positive spin on existing student behaviour policy and its response, the misbehaviour continues unabated.  In private, the administration is still focusing on dealing with the teachers who went public, accusing them of spreading “lies,’ “abandoning students,” and even “doing a lot of harm to the community.”

            Below the surface, racial politics is a factor, especially in Peel, a Toronto region board with an already tarnished reputation. Some students engaging in the disruptive behaviour are Black, but not all of those causing the disruptions. It’s a sensitive matter because, even after all the revelations, teachers are still being advised to respond to student questions by ‘affirming the students’ feelings’ and responding in ways “aligned with the board’s responses.”

            Today, as the school year nears its end, teachers are counting the days and some staff were reportedly close to walking out, taking sick leave. The crisis has rocked the Peel Board of Education, but the two sides remain at odds and teachers are still upset that somehow, they became the problem.  A tough situation got worse because of incredibly weak administrative leadership, totally ineffective student behaviour policy, and an unwillingness to confront in-school realities.

Why is student behaviour out-of-control in educational settings like Tomken Road Middle School?  How much of the problem stems from ‘progressive discipline’ administered with no consequences?  What’s happened to school leadership? What explains the paralysis?

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Gender Identity Controversy: What did New Brunswick’s Policy 713 Review Accomplish?*

For five weeks, from early May to mid-June 2023, New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs and his beleaguered and rather stoic Education Minister have been embroiled in a Canadian provincial version of the transgender rights controversy.  Ignited by the surprise announcement that Education Policy 713 was under review, it was made far worse by that infamous May 17 media scrum when the Premier stumbled onto a minefield and divulged his barely concealed views. The ensuing provincial gender identity war over LGBTQ rights completely dominated public policy debate, sparked a brief government caucus revolt, and aggravated societal divisions.

Premier Higgs and Minister Bill Hogan battened the hatches while weathering a storm of protest and a strong current of mobilized public opinion, supported by Canadian human rights protections. What unleashed the torrent was the Premier’s initial, ill-advised approach to such a sensitive teen mental health and multi-faceted human rights issue. Teens wrestling with gender issues or dysphoria are five times more likely to commit suicide and do require ‘safe spaces’ if only to sort out the complex mixture of feelings.

Modifications announced by Minister Hogan on June 8, 2023 were designed to impose a settlement and quell the dissent. The proposed new version affirmed parental rights to be informed of “self-identification” changes and, on the other hand, firmed up the commitment to provide “universal (private) washroom facilities” in each school.  The price was extraordinarily high in terms of aggravating social tensions and destabilizing the government.

While the Premier framed it as a matter of parental rights, he and his allies were triggered by two events, both only tangentially related to Policy 713 which deals with providing ‘safe spaces’ in schools. Politicians tend to be reactive, especially when facing a barrage of complaints, real and imagined.  Whether it came in the form of formal complaints or not, many parents reacted negatively to a March 11 Storytime drag show for ‘little ones’ at Moncton Public Library and the May 5 Pride in Education teacher professional development session at Hanwell Park Academy. Given the current polarized and agitated atmosphere, it’s hardly surprising that most holding such views choose to keep their own counsel.

Higgs and Hogan opened a ‘Pandora’s Box’ in public education. It started with a commitment to engage parents, where possible, more constructively in the transgender transition of pre- and early adolescents.  The Policy 713 review became a virtual magnet for the most divisive and contested social issues of our time – the use of gender-based pronouns, eligibility for sports competitions, and access to gender-free washrooms.   

While many and perhaps most New Brunswick parents feel that they do have a right to know if their child, under age 16, has come out at school, raising the whole issue is fraught with risks. It’s next-to-impossible to find a middle ground without compromising the well-being of teens in transition.  Given the highly polarized atmosphere, no one was prepared to go deeper or dare to engage in evidence-informed discussions about the rising incidence of social dysphoria, especially among young girls.

Gender-affirming care model approaches being implemented in public mental health and children’s services and through social agencies, now well-advanced in Ontario, are taking root in New Brunswick. Since the closure of the Toronto CMHA clinic in 2015, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) guidelines have expanded access to, and support for, early medical treatment for gender dysphoria in younger people.

Specialized care for children and youth who identify as a ‘gender minority’ is expanding in New Brunswick. Horizon Health is on board working with clients of all ages to ensure a “safe and welcoming environment for everyone, embracing 2SLGBTQIA+, which stands for two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual.

Advocacy groups draw support from the NB Trans Health Network, composed of health professionals with training in trans health who campaign for improved services and access. More than a half-dozen advocacy groups have arisen to support trans and gender diverse teens and youth, including Pride in Education, Imprint Youth Association (Fredericton), Safe Spaces Moncton, and Trans-Action on the Acadian Peninsula.

 More and more children and adolescents are identifying as transgender and increasing numbers being offered medical treatment, such as puberty blockers and surgical procedures, especially in the United States and Canada. A February 2023 British Medical Journal report, drawing upon evidence from Britain and Sweden, struck a cautionary note. There is professional disagreement over the evidence underpinning WPATH guidelines.

Britain’s National Health Service, currently in the midst of an independent review by Dr Hilary Cass, has registered concerns about the “scarce and inconclusive evidence to support clinical decision-making” for minors. In Dr. Cass’s interim report, it was identified as a “transient phase” requiring psychological support and health practitioners were urged to be “mindful” of the mental health risks of even social transition. 

None of this new medical research calls into question the foundational gender-affirming care approach now in place. Children and youth presenting with gender identity issues are vulnerable and at-risk.  Provincial school authorities and regional districts, following the lead of Horizon Health, need to recognize “how difficult the path to becoming your true self is, and how different the path is for each person.”  It is not a situation amenable to easy answers or blanket solutions.

Education Minister Hogan was not the person to be conducting consultations on Policy 713.  Last week, while meeting with Saint John High School transgender activist Logan Martin and a small group of LGBTQ+ students, he stuck his foot in his mouth again. Describing sexual identity and gender identity, repeatedly, as a “lifestyle” was potentially “harmful” and losing his composure exhibited a level of discomfort in confronting today’s school realities.  

Newly elected Liberal Leader Susan Holt was quick to pounce on Hogan’s public gaffe.  Demanding a public apology to the teens from the Minister for his ‘harmful behaviour’ did not elicit one. During his latest press conference, Hogan stuck doggedly to his prepared script and managed to steer clear of committing further offences.

Wading into gender identity politics divides far more than it unites and the Higgs government was in way over its head. It was a high-risk venture if the only real change was to ensure parents were advised that their child was seeking to use a different name or use a different preferred pronoun in school. It all would have gone more smoothly if finding a compromise was left to knowledgeable teen mental health researchers and pediatricians.  

New Brunswick is now more divided than ever before and the government’s future may be imperiled. For better or worse, more citizens are now better informed on children’s rights and more aware of the potential risks of transitioning minors. Of greater concern: the middle ground is disappearing and there’s little sign New Brunswickers are more willing to accommodate the shift in societal values.

*A shorter version appeared in the Telegraph Journal, Provincial Edition, June10, 2023

What sparked New Brunswick’s foray into the minefield of gender identity politics and policy?  Which sections of N.B. Policy 717 were identified for review and why did they stir controversy? If such a review was advisable, why was it undertaken by the Premier and his education minister rather than recognized human rights experts and mental health professionals?  What did it all accomplish in the end?

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