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James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic High School An aerial shot of James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic High School (Credit: Chopper24) <\/p>\nTwo teachers who were placed on leave amid allegations of anti-Black racist messages shared in social media chat that was accessible to students are \u201cno longer employed\u201d by the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Toronto Catholic District School Board can confirm that the two teachers involved in the incident at James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic Secondary School are no longer employed by the Board. The matter has been reported to the Ontario College of Teachers,\u201d the board said in a written statement provided to CP24.<\/p>\n
The school in question is located in North York at 1440 Finch Ave. W., just west of Keele Street.<\/p>\n
The TCDSB went on to say that an investigation was launched \u201cas soon as school leadership became aware of the matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce the images in question were received, the teachers were immediately removed from the school and placed on leave,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
\u201c(We take) incidents of racism and discrimination extremely seriously. We recognize the impact this incident has had on the school community and remain committed to ensuring our schools are safe, inclusive, and welcoming places for all.\u201d<\/p>\n
James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic High School An aerial shot of James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic High School (Credit: Chopper24) <\/p>\n
CP24 previously reviewed a screengrab of what appears to be a series of messages on a shared social media platform in which a racist image is shared.<\/p>\n
Another teacher reportedly responded to that image, saying \u201cLMAO where are the chicken wings, (explicative) (N-word) are all the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
The messages, which date back to the Christmas break, were screenshotted and reported to the school\u2019s principal by a pupil who had access to the school\u2019s Student Athletic Association Instagram account, according to Parents of Black Children (PoBC).<\/p>\n
\u2018Blatant anti-Black racism\u2019: advocacy group<\/p>\n
The advocacy group has called what occurred \u201cblatant anti-Black racism,\u201d saying that it has been \u201cformally engaged\u201d by concerned parents of students at the school who are \u201cseeking justice and accountability regarding an egregious incident of anti-Black racism.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe exchange included the use of the N-Word and harmful racial stereotypes targeting Black people,\u201d a Feb. 19 release stated.<\/p>\n
Parents of Black Children has accused school officials of a \u201cdelay in administrative action and in notifying the Superintendent\u201d about the incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents further report that during a subsequent meeting, the racist content was not directly addressed, and concerns raised by students were minimized,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
CP24 has also obtained and listened to an audio clip reportedly from that meeting, during which a male educator appears to be speaking to students about the incident, saying that \u201cwhatever it is, it\u2019s in the past, it\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n
He goes on to say that he doesn\u2019t want anyone to have any \u201cnegative feelings or feel a certain way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s move beyond this,\u201d the teacher is heard saying, adding while \u201cthings get portrayed in a certain way …. it\u2019s not who we are as individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s put it to rest,\u201d he says, later apologizing for the incident.<\/p>\n
\u2018Fear of retaliation\u2019 <\/p>\n
Parents of Black Children has said that members of the school\u2019s Student Athletic Association, which includes Black girls, have \u201cexpressed fear of retaliation, including concerns about potential academic consequences that could impact university admissions,\u201d if they speak out about the racist incident publicly.<\/p>\n
\u201cStaff and students have reported feeling unsafe and lacking confidence in the administrations handling of the matter,\u201d PoBC said in its news release.<\/p>\n
The group has also issued four demands, including calling for the immediate removal of the involved teachers from classroom duties pending investigation, a full and transparent investigation by the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT), clear communication from the TCDSB to the school community, and explicit protections against retaliation for students and staff who have come forward.<\/p>\n
The Ontario College of Teachers (OCT), which licenses, governs and regulates the province\u2019s teaching profession, previously told CP24 that it is \u201caware of the allegations and is taking them seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
CP24 has reached out to PoBC and OCT for a follow-up comment.<\/p>\n
With files from CP24\u2019s Bryann Aguilar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two teachers who were placed on leave amid allegations of anti-Black racist messages shared in social media chat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[712,49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-541442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}