TDSB places teacher on home assignment after he wears blackface at high school

The Toronto District School Board has placed a teacher on home assignment after he wore blackface at Parkdale Collegiate Institute during Halloween celebrations on Friday.

Parents, however, are demanding more action from the board, saying incidents involving racism and discrimination should not be tolerated.

In a letter to parents and guardians, Principal Julie Ardell called the incident "racist and dehumanizing." She said the teacher was told to wash his face and the school has filed a report with the TDSB. The board is now investigating the incident.

"Caricatures of peoples' race and culture are not appropriate and are offensive and hurtful," Ardell wrote. "While we have begun the work of addressing anti-Black racism and all forms of discrimination, it is clear that we must do more."

Ardell also noted that anti-Black racism and other forms of discrimination targeting any race, culture, or group contravenes the school's code of conduct and several TDSB policies.

The incident itself was brought to light when several students reported it to the vice principal. Ardell applauded students for "doing the right thing." Several parents learned about the incident from their children.

Sarah Latha, one of those parents, said her son shared a photo that his friend took that shows the teacher in blackface in the classroom.

"One of the main reasons we pushed for our kid to go to Parkdale was because of the diversity, so that he would see himself reflected in the school," Latha said, noting she's a parent of a child of colour. "To have something like this happen...it's shocking."

"We're trying to push the school and the TDSB to look at how and why this happened," she added.

After speaking with other parents whose children attend Parkdale CI, Latha said some parents say it's not about the teacher's intent in the incident.

"When you're trying to build inclusive, anti-racist environments that challenge white supremacy to create safe spaces for learners, it's not about the individual intent of a person," Latha said.

She still has concerns, notably about previous instances of racism where students may or may not have come forward, or how a school or school board's culture permitted such an incident to happen in the first place.

Cathy Gatlin, another parent, said she helped her friend Leila Sarangi to draft a petition demanding more action from the TDSB. She saw photos of the teacher in blackface from another parent.

The petition outlines suggestions to help students report racist and hateful incidents and calls for more transparency in the hiring of teachers.