Parents calling for more action after hateful flyers circulate Ajax schools

Kinzi Ahmed couldn’t believe her eyes when she found out hateful flyers were circulating at the school attended by her four children.

“I was horrified, sick to my stomach,” Ahmed said. “I couldn’t imagine how much hate would be put in a poster.”

And Ahmed isn’t alone. Many parents were left concerned after flyers containing offensive anti-black content were spread throughout several Ajax schools and then to social media last week.

Two teenage boys and a man are now facing harassment-related charges.

While these charges brought relief to some local parents, many are not satisfied. Instead, they called for the school board to publicly condemn the incident.

Even after the arrests, Ahmed said conversations surrounding prejudice and hateful behaviour are critically important.

“We uncovered anti-black racist hate crime, although an arrest has been made,” Ahmed said. “The discussions and concerns we have don’t end here.”

Many parents voiced their concerns at a DDSB board meeting on Monday. Some said the incident was minimized and dismissed by the board.

2:59 3 young men charged in connection to racist flyers found in Ajax community

“It was downplayed significantly by administrators and the board,” attendee Nicole Bell said. “And I would like to know why.”

John Henry, Durham’s regional chair and chief executive officer, released a statement on Tuesday in response to the incident.

Henry said the flyers were created as an act of revenge, with the intention of eliciting a negative response from the community. He took a stand against the messages in the flyers, and said Durham Region has zero tolerance for this type of behaviour.

“We strive to create welcoming, equitable and inclusive communities to ensure all residents feel safe and supported,” he said. “I offer my deepest sympathies to all individuals who have been impacted by the malicious messaging and illustrations found on these flyers.”

Jim Markovski, the associate director of equitable education with the board of trustees, said the school board does not tolerate hate and is supporting the ongoing police investigation. As a start, the DDSB sent messages to impacted families.

“I’m not going to sit here and dispute the harmful impact this had on families,” he said. “We did have supports dispatched to those schools to ensure if there was any harm or stress that needed to be assessed, the supports would be there for them.”

But Ahmed said the board’s responses need to change. Instead of brushing off concerns like these, she said the DDSB needs to take parents seriously.

“It’s not something we can ignore and it’s not something we can just pass off as a one-off,” she said.

The school board will meet again on May 23.