WCDSB, advocacy group respond to provincial review of police call at local school

The Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) and the advocacy group Parents of Black Children have responded to a review by the Ministry of Education into a November 2021 incident where police were called to a local school to deal with a four-year-old.

Board officials said they received the review Wednesday and released a statement in response Thursday at noon.

The review from the Ministry of Education has not been made public.

According to Waterloo regional police, officers received a call from the school's principal on Nov. 29 regarding a student “in crisis” who was said to be acting violently.

The student was reportedly placed in a safe and secure room and officers worked with the child to deescalate the situation, then drove him to a family member's home.

Parents of Black Children says they reached out to Ontario Minister of Education Stephen Lecce last month, which prompted him to order a review and report of the incident.

"No four-year-child in this province or this country should have the police called on them," Lecce told CTV News. "It's just unacceptable and that's why I decided to send in a review, to understand what transpired and to ensure it doesn't happen again."

In a statement issued Thursday, WCDSB Director of Education Loretta Notten called the findings of the provincial investigation "a blueprint for further action," saying it highlighted a "critical support gap for students in crisis" which needs to be addressed by both the province and the school board.

Notten said the board, “deeply regret the obvious hurt and distress caused to this young child in our care and to his family and the Black community."

“When every education strategy is exhausted and a student remains in crisis, the final option for school boards is to call 9-1-1 and emergency services," Notten continued, in part.

"We care deeply for the children entrusted to us. We also know these choices are not neutral, even if the policy is. That a call to police for a Black student has an impact that is different, that it is more significant as a result of a history of systemic racism."

Parents of Black Children says they know the affected family, have seen the report, and that it includes 14 reccomendations for the school board and five for the ministry.

"Our voices were heard," a statement from the group reads in part. "The report, provided to the family by the investigator, clearly outlines a pattern of dismissal towards the parents of the child and an unwillingness to engage the parents in the care plan for their child, as the report refers to, 'indifference to the realities of her existence as a Black woman and mother.'"

Parents of Black Children said it was "disheartening and painful to read this investigation and see the many points and places, where the child involved, was let down by WCDSB staff and leadership."

"This is particularly concerning as school is a place where his well-being and safety should have been prioritized, instead, he was criminalized and not treated like a four-year-old," the group continued.

"Justice is not served until the staff and leadership involved in this incident are removed from school systems completely and not able to harm any child again. We demand the removal of both Director Notten and the principal involved in this case for their incompetence and mismanagement."

Notten said she will share a more fulsome response to the review at an April 4 board meeting.

She said the board meeting will include the recommendations from the province and added that her response will have a focus on her position on systemic racism.

“I am proud to say I think that it reflects that there is quite a bit that we have undertaken to combat and to educate the need for combatting anti-Black racism,” Notten said in an interview with CTV News.

Notten previously said there is no systemic racism within the board, she later apologized for that statement.