Reports that a lunchroom supervisor at an elementary school showed graphic war content to a group of kindergarten students have led to a school board investigation in Toronto.
The alleged incident occurred during lunchtime on April 7, at Alexander Muir/Gladstone Avenue Junior and Senior Public School, which goes up to Grade 8. It involved junior and senior kindergarten students—aged four and five—at the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) building located near Dufferin and Dundas Streets.
According to parents, children reported being shown graphic videos of casualties in Gaza.
In a letter sent to families the following day, on April 8, principal Alan Malolos wrote that “inappropriate video content may have been shown to some students during lunch yesterday.
“We want to reassure you we are taking these allegations very seriously and are actively investigating to confirm exactly what occurred and what was shown,” the letter stated. “We can confirm that the lunchroom supervisor will not be returning and will have no contact with students or staff at our school while the investigation process continues.”
A parent who chose not to be named said this was not an isolated incident at the school, located in a gentrifying downtown neighbourhood. “The principal at Alexander Muir/Gladstone PS allows a culture of violence, antisemitism and chaos to perpetuate daily,” the parent said in a statement provided to The Canadian Jewish News. “He refuses to address serious issues.”
TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird told The CJN that “these allegations are very troubling and a thorough investigation is underway to understand what occurred.”
“We will take all necessary steps to address any inappropriate conduct and ensure students feel safe and free from harm in their school,” he wrote in an email statement.
The incident has sparked concern from parents and members of the broader community.
Tamara Gottlieb, co-founder of Jewish Educators and Family Association of Canada (JEFA), who spoke with numerous parents whose kids are enrolled at the school, told The CJN that the fallout “go[es] well beyond the Jewish community.”
“Parents of all backgrounds whose children were exposed, or even including children who attend the school and who were not exposed, are deeply concerned about what happened in addition to other challenges involving leadership at the school,” she said.
Gottlieb says that while the letter acknowledged the incident, families feel that steps to support affected students have fallen short.
“The last I have been (made) aware—and I spoke with parents at the school as recently as this week—is that their requests for remedial action have not been met with a satisfactory response yet,” she said. “In terms of actually engaging with the students who saw the video, yeah, the remedial actions—my understanding is—they haven’t done anything yet.”
Gottlieb also noted that the school has faced ongoing concerns from families over the past year.
“This is one of the few, if not only schools in the province, that had pro-Palestinian walkouts at an elementary school—not a high school, an elementary school—and so there have been concerns that the leadership at the school has not (considered) student safety,” she said. “That this school has faced a number of challenges, and sadly, these (videos) are one of them.”
In his letter to families, Malolos said he and the school’s vice-principal would be personally checking in with students and that social work staff would be available to support any child who wished to talk.
The letter also provided guidance for parents, encouraging them to initiate open-ended conversations, listen closely to their child’s understanding of the event, and offer age-appropriate reassurance.
“Children deal with stress in many different ways and at different paces,” the letter read. “While children may not wish to talk today, they may wish to talk in weeks or days to come.”
The investigation remains ongoing.
