Toronto’s public school board has asked the province to expedite its investigation into a field trip about Indigenous issues where students also appeared to march alongside a rally by pro-Palestinian protesters, prompting concerns about events not aligning with permission forms that described the excursion.
In a special Toronto District School Board meeting on Wednesday evening about last week’s Grassy Narrows River Run event, trustees also voted to move up a review of the board’s excursion policy to this year. The review was previously scheduled to occur in three years.
Louise Sirisko, the TDSB’s acting director of education, told trustees that staff have “concerns about what occurred in relation to this excursion, and believe additional information is necessary to properly assess the situation.”
The board said it would co-operate with the provincial government’s investigation into the excursion, and asked that it be concluded no later than Dec. 1.
The field trip to downtown Toronto on Sept. 18 was attended by students from about 15 schools to observe the event in support of the Grassy Narrows First Nation and their efforts to address mercury contamination affecting their community.
Children as young as eight participated in the excursion, although the TDSB said that most students were in high school.
Ms. Sirisko said Wednesday that the excursion was organized as an education experience to hear from Indigenous voices. However, concerns were raised about students also witnessing or participating in a different protest, after videos circulating on social media appeared to show students being led through a march and taking part in a pro-Palestinian rally.
On Tuesday, Ontario’s Education Minister, Jill Dunlop, said the government would investigate the circumstances surrounding the excursion.
“It is clear that the TDSB has failed to take swift and decisive action on this matter,” Ms. Dunlop said. “As such, I have asked my ministry to initiate an investigation into the events that took place at the TDSB last week. Those responsible should be held accountable.”
Last week, the board, facing pressure from community members, said it would investigate the field trip. That probe has been suspended as the government conducts its own investigation into the excursion.
Premier Doug Ford criticized the TDSB earlier this week and called for an immediate probe into how the excursion was permitted.
“I think it’s disgraceful. You’re trying to indoctrinate our kids,” Mr. Ford told reporters at a news conference. “They should be in the classroom learning about reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, the whole shebang. But instead, the TDSB and these teachers want to bring them down to a rally, a Palestinian rally, and it’s ridiculous.”
The TDSB apologized for the harm the excursion caused to students, adding that organized protests should not be part of a field trip and that the rule would be clarified with its schools.
In a statement on its website on Friday, the board said that, if policies and professional standards were not followed, it would take “appropriate action, which may include discipline and/or changes to our field trip process to ensure accountability.”