Eagle Heights Public School in London, Ont., on July 24, 2020.Kate Dockeray/The Globe and Mail
A school board in southwestern Ontario says it’s investigating a report that a teacher allegedly used a racial slur while reciting song lyrics during a Grade 12 English class.
In a statement, the Thames Valley District School Board says the incident was reported by a student to Saunders Secondary School administration last week, and the teacher was “removed from teaching duties until the investigation is completed.”
TVDSB education director Mark Fisher says his expectation “is that all staff are aware there is no justifiable reason to use racist words in a Thames Valley school.”
The school board did not say what discipline the teacher is facing, but notes that it is in the process of developing “Guidelines on the Non-Use of Racial and other Slurs and Epithets” for educators, which is set to be released to all staff in the coming months.
Last week, a Toronto District School Board official said in a letter to parents and students that a teacher who dressed in blackface at Parkdale Collegiate Institute for Halloween is “no longer employed” at the board.
At the time, Debbie Donsky, the superintendent of education with the TDSB, said another, ongoing investigation into a separate incident of anti-Black racism at the Toronto school continues.
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