A Montreal elementary school is at the centre of a secularism debate. Here's how we got here

In the last few weeks, an elementary school in Montreal's west-central Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood has been mired in controversy.

This past weekend, 11 teachers were suspended for allegedly creating a toxic environment for students and staff that goes back to 2016. On Tuesday, their teaching licences were also suspended.

The allegations are the subject of a 90-page government report.

Since the suspensions were announced, many provincial politicians have weighed in on the issue, including the premier of Quebec. The conversation about the safety and well-being of students has evolved into a wider discussion about religion in public institutions and the province's secularism law, commonly referred to as Bill 21.

Here's a look at how we got here and how the tone shifted in just a matter of days. 

Bedford elementary school is part of the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM), the largest school service centre in the province that runs many of Montreal's French public schools.

The conversation around Bedford may seem recent, but Quebec radio station 98.5 fm has been covering the story since last year. The station's news coverage — and calls from Liberal MNA Marwah Rizqy for the government to step in —  played a major role in sparking the Education Ministry's report, which was made public earlier this month. 

The report describes a series of radio news items from 98.5 FM that outline a long list of issues with how these teachers allegedly behaved. They include reports of teachers screaming at students, punishing them in humiliating fashion, treating them differently depending on their gender and preventing resource staff from helping students with learning difficulties.

The allegations raised questions about the teachers' competence and the psychological safety of students there.

The ministry's investigation was conducted between Nov. 16, 2023, and April 19, 2024, and included 73 interviews with witnesses.

According to the report, the 98.5 FM journalist who reported extensively on Bedford spoke to 18 people with ties to the school.

The Education Ministry's report makes constant references to 98.5 FM's radio columns.

The report found that "overall, and based on the evidence collected, the investigation was able to confirm the allegations mentioned in the radio reports that aired on 98.5 FM."

The report mentions that the teachers punished students with learning disabilities and referred to them as "lazy," simply because they didn't recognize those disabilities as legitimate. They're also alleged to have prevented support staff from entering classrooms.