11 teachers suspended following allegations of “toxic” climate in Montreal school

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Quebec’s largest school service center suspends 11 teachers from a Montreal elementary school after a government investigation found they fostered a “toxic” environment.

In a move it describes as unprecedented, the Montreal School Services Center says its general director has asked administrators to immediately suspend teachers at Bedford School, in the multicultural Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood.

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Isabelle Gélinas made this decision Thursday evening after the provincial government’s investigative committee transmitted the names of educators who allegedly subjected students to violence as well as assertions that autism does not exist.

Last week, the Quebec government appointed monitors to combat the climate of fear and intimidation that it says has taken root in the French-language school.

They are expected to investigate the allegations and provide recommendations and an action plan by November 30, with all 11 teachers suspended until at least that date.

Quebec’s measures follow a report released earlier this month concluding there was a “dominant clan” of teachers who imposed a strict, autocratic regime on students and intimidated and ostracized anyone who opposed it.

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