Accused of creating a “toxic” environment at a Montreal school, 11 teachers have lost their licences.
In 2024, the teachers were suspended from their jobs at Bedford elementary school in Côte-des-Neiges after a damning report found they had formed a “dominant clan” aimed at imposing strict rules on students and intimidating those who opposed them.
“The 11 teachers’ licences were suspended given the reports by the investigation committee,” a spokesperson for Quebec Education Minister Sonia LeBel confirmed to The Gazette on Tuesday.
The spokesperson declined to provide further details, citing ongoing legal battles.
The controversy at Bedford elementary school was a political flashpoint in Quebec, prompting politicians to call for stronger rules aimed at keeping religion out of schools.
The 11 teachers suspended were largely of North African descent, the 2024 report found, with some of them attending a local mosque together. The mosque carried a “strong influence” on several staff members, the report said, describing a visit in which mosque representatives urged school management to maintain good relations with Muslim families.
Investigators found that the 11 teachers often resorted to humiliation tactics, telling students who didn’t do their homework to stand by the wall and telling others they were a “lost cause” in front of their peers.
But the report also noted that other teachers of North African descent had opposed the actions of the “dominant clan” of 11 teachers, becoming some of their most vocal critics.
Following the controversy, the service centre governing the school, the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal, implemented an action plan aimed at preventing future incidents.
The plan required the school’s leadership to monitor classrooms more closely, including through regular check-ins with teachers.
In a report completed last December but released Tuesday, representatives for the service centre said they “attended several of these meetings” and “can vouch for their added value.”
But the December report also found an “unequal buy-in” from educators at the school, with some teachers under the impression that the action plan had been imposed on them. Still, the report said most teachers were happy with the changes at the school.
“Without rigorous educational management, the situation of non-compliance with curriculum could repeat itself at Bedford school or in other establishments,” the report said.
The action plan recommended a series of measures, including hiring an educational counsellor to work with teachers and management and a reduction of management’s administrative tasks to allow more time to oversee classrooms.
Most of the measures have now been implemented, the report said.
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