The rise in violence on school premises has 2022-23 on track to being the worst since the Toronto District School Board began collecting data in 2000.
Last month, Ethayakanthan’s own school was rocked by violence when a 15-year-old in the parking lot was shot three times in the chest during a drive-by shooting. He ran to the office where staff supported him until paramedics arrived to rush him to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
She says staff “handled everything under pressure,” which eased her fears. And when the lockdown lifted, she says, administrators came back on the PA system, noting, “They were reassuring, but you could tell they had been through a lot.”in January when a gun was reportedly spotted“Parents were literally crying,” recalls father Yogesh Kumar, co-chair of the school council. “That time was very emotional.
The vast majority attribute challenges around student well-being, behaviour and safety to a lack of staff, resources and support. About 80 per cent say school staff have a tough time managing student well-being, with 74 per cent expressing challenges dealing with student behaviour. Just over one-third say violent and inappropriate behaviour — fighting, verbal abuse and, in some cases, the possession of weapons — is on the rise.
“With the conditions the way they are right now, we’re really worried that some really good classroom teachers, who should be considering going into school leadership, will stay away because of what they’re seeing their principals and vice-principals dealing with on a daily basis,” he says. “That harms the entire system when our best people are not coming forward into leadership positions ... and considering moving to other sectors.
The TDSB says its buildings are, on average, about 60 years old, that the repair backlog is more than $4 billion, and it too has been impacted by pandemic-related supply chain issues. about $20 million. It’s a major undertaking given the number of cameras involved — for instance Weston Collegiate alone has about 80.
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