A number of unions representing education workers in Hamilton say they will develop their own task force after accusing local school boards of not doing enough to curb violence.
Jeff Sorensen, president of the union which represents Hamilton’s public elementary teachers, says the task force hopes to determine the extent of the problem and make recommendations to both the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) and the city’s catholic school board (HWCDSB).
“We know that our members are taking more time off related to violence in the workplace,” said Sorenson.
“We know that our WSIB (Workplace Safety and Insurance Board) claims are increasing. We know our long-term disability rates are increasing. And those numbers can be traced back to workplace violence.
“So whatever the board claims they’re doing isn’t making a difference in the front lines of our classrooms.”
Over the last several years, Sorenson says the unions have “constantly” told school boards about a number of incidents in which teachers were spat on, had punches thrown at them and were the target of threats.
He says some of what teachers report is not believed while other teachers just don’t bother reporting at all.
In October, Director of Education Manny Figueiredo told Global News the most recent reported incidents in HWDSB schools were from 2017-18, when 13 violent altercations were reported to the province.
However, Sorenson disputes those numbers sent to the Ministry of Education, saying that a recent survey of members revealed that 70 per cent of teachers personally experienced violence or witnessed violence against another staff member in a school.
“We know that our numbers are much higher than the board’s numbers,” said Sorenson.
“So we want to find out why is there underreporting? You know, is there a fear that a school will look bad or principal will look bad if there is violence in their school?”
Sorenson says the task force will reach out not only to teachers, education workers and both boards, but to parents as well.
The new task force is also expected to track school violence on its own and report to the province and boards.
School Board Chair Alex Johnstone told Global News that they “welcome the conversation” from the new task force.
“It does sound to be different, but complementary to the panel that our board is putting together on bullying, which is a review on prevention and intervention, tactics and strategies,” said Johnstone.
She goes on to say that the board is negotiating with teachers and educators to secure priority funding which would help with recruiting more educational assistants.
“Those are individuals that we place on to our most high-priority school to work with our most vulnerable students.”
Sorenson argues the solution is not about hiring more EAs or teachers but taking on more staff geared towards dealing with community issues.
“We’re talking about community professionals that can help families and help students. Because, you know, we’re not trained social workers. We’re not trained police officers. We’re teachers; we’re educators.”
In November, the HWDSB announced it would be stepping up its supports for its students, parents and staff in light of the stabbing death of 14-year-old Devan Bracci-Selvey in early October.
Initiatives the board said it would introduce included classroom activities focusing on bullying prevention and intervention, an educational package for parents providing information on how to report bullying, training for school staff on “emotion coaching,” and the redeployment of the HWDSB Helps website and app.
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