11 teachers suspended over allegations of ‘toxic’ climate at Montreal primary school

A class at a Toronto elementary school is seen on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. Eleven teachers at Bedford School have been suspended at the request of the director general of the Montreal School Service Centre, who made the announcement in a press release on Saturday evening. (The Canadian Press/Chris Young)

Quebec's largest school service centre is suspending 11 teachers at a Montreal elementary school after a government investigation found they fostered a "toxic" environment.

In a move it described as unprecedented, the Centre de services scolaires de Montréal says its director general asked administrators to immediately suspend the teachers at Bedford school in the city's multicultural Côte-des-Neiges district.

It says Isabelle Gélinas made the decision Thursday evening after the provincial government's investigative committee passed on the names of educators who allegedly subjected students to violence as well as claims that autism does not exist.

Last week, the Quebec government appointed monitors to address the climate of fear and intimidation it said had taken root at the French-language school.

They are slated to investigate the allegations and make recommendations along with an action plan by Nov. 30, with the 11 teachers suspended until at least that time.

Quebec's measures follow a report made public earlier this month concluding there was a "dominant clan" of teachers who imposed strict, autocratic rule over students and intimidated and ostracized anyone who opposed them.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2024.