‘They gave us cover-ups and lies’: alleged misconduct by PDSB around student assault sparks push for reform 

At the start of the 2023 school year, Anwar Knight’s son, according to witness accounts, was assaulted by another student at a Mississauga school. 

He and his closest classmates were playing a friendly game with a football during lunch recess. When older students asked to join, they declined, knowing these kids liked to play rough. Then his son was tackled to the ground, his arm badly bent, broken in two places, beneath his attacker’s weight.

The traumatic injury required numerous medical appointments at Sick Kids Hospital and a painful recovery. 

The trauma his son endured is what all parents dread, what keeps them awake at night, worrying about their children.

When the Peel District School Board failed to contact police, Knight was forced to file a complaint with local law enforcement himself, while the PDSB tried to cover up the disturbing incident, he alleges. 

The sense of helplessness and anger was made worse by the way the PDSB mishandled the entire situation, Knight tells The Pointer.

When he attempted to get basic details from the PDSB, including whether any disciplinary action was taken against the student and what was being done to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future, information was impossible to obtain, he says. 

What followed was “deeply alarming”.

He was allegedly ignored by elected trustees; lied to by senior administrators who appeared to be deliberately trying to conceal the facts; and Knight documented several glaring breaches of PDSB policy related to violent incidents involving students.

Peel police eventually charged one student with assault, about seven months after the incident, thanks to Knight’s determination to protect his son, and other students in the future.

He remains appalled by the way leadership at the PDSB placed other priorities ahead of his son’s safety and the administration of justice.  

“What’s really important here is nobody did the right thing,” Knight says. “Top to bottom no one at any time said, ‘hey, let’s stop, take a breath here, we need to do our obligated duty of care.’”

PDSB manager of communications, Malon Edwards, responded to questions Friday.  

“Peel District School Board takes all reports of student injury, harm, or misconduct seriously. When concerns are brought forward, we gather the facts, assess the situation, and take appropriate steps in line with our Student Code of Conduct, Safe Schools Policy and the Ontario Education Act. 

Due to our obligation to protect the privacy of all students involved and that this is now part of an active legal process, the board will not be commenting further. 

As legal proceedings have been initiated, we are unable to speak to the specifics of the case. However, we remain focused on addressing concerns and reinforcing our commitment to student safety.”

The PDSB is already reeling from a recent $7 million lawsuit by the board’s former head of equity, Poleen Grewal, who alleges that its leaders, including director of education Rashmi Swarup, continue to protect a culture that does harm to students while closing ranks and blaming others. 

The frustration over the traumatic injury to Knight’s son is being expressed through Hold Schools Accountable, an advocacy initiative he launched to reform the Education Act. Knight’s aim is to close the gaps in incident reporting mechanisms that prevented him and his family from getting an accurate picture of what happened to their son that day.

Anwar Knight, a longtime broadcaster on CTV, has launched Hold Schools Accountable to advocate for changes to the Education Act.

(Submitted)

Knight’s petition, which now has more than 8,000 signatures, asks the provincial government to amend the Education Act to ensure investigation reports into violent incidents are delivered to parents within 21 days; that all relevant facts and findings are included (with student names redacted for privacy); that the process is transparent, accurate and fair; and that parents are empowered to advocate effectively for their child’s safety.

The proposed changes, which Knight says are surprisingly not already part of board policy, are about placing student wellbeing first. Too often, boards have different priorities in mind, he says. 

“Image, liability and internal protection are taking priority over honesty, responsibility and student wellbeing. There is zero accountability and transparency,” he says. “It’s really pulling back the curtain on a story that I think everyone suspected was going on, and I’m not talking specifically PDSB only. I have heard from hundreds of parents and teachers saying, ‘it’s chaos, it’s a crisis.’”

Following the assault on his son early in September 2023, Knight received his only in-person meeting with PDSB officials two weeks later. 

Ahead of that meeting, Knight had already conducted his own due diligence, including speaking to witnesses who saw the alleged assault. 

When school officials presented their version of events, Knight noticed clear contradictions.

“They gave us cover-ups and lies,” he says. 

According to Knight, PDSB officials claimed the older student did not tackle his son. Instead, his son was bumped, which led to the fall and the broken bones in his arm.

“That is just a lie,” Knight says. 

Knight left the meeting feeling shocked, and quickly reported the assault to Peel police. 

After Knight and his family filed the police report, the principal of the school declined to cooperate with the investigating officer without a court order. In a clear violation of the Local Police School Board Protocol, the PDSB did not report the incident itself. 

Despite a mandatory requirement to report physical assaults to Peel police under board policy, the Peel District School Board failed to do so after Anwar Knight’s son was allegedly assaulted.

(Local Police School Board Protocol)

When a court order was produced, the PDSB was forced to hand over all documents related to the assault, which included a written confession from the older student admitting to what he had done. He was charged by police. 

To this day, Knight is unaware if any disciplinary action was taken against the student by the PDSB. 

“They decided to try and cover it up and think we would accept it,” he says. “When we caught them, when we challenged them in that meeting, that’s when they started to panic.”

Since launching Hold Schools Accountable, Knight has been contacted by educators from across the province who support his recommendations, stating they are long overdue. A YouTube video outlining his son’s story has more than 16,000 views, and nearly 40 comments, many detailing stories of bullying described by parents whose children have been harassed. A post of the video on Facebook has drawn more than 350,000 views. 

“We can no longer permit any school board that is publicly funded to police themselves because it is clear they are taking advantage of it,” Knight says. “It’s an epic failure about not being accountable or transparent, and the PDSB has mastered that, in my opinion.”

Following the launch of the campaign, Anwar Knight was recently contacted by the Ministry of Education and was given a sit-down meeting with Premier Doug Ford and Education Minister Paul Calandra. He left the meeting at the end of June feeling encouraged. 

Anwar Knight (centre) meeting recently with Premier Doug Ford and Education Minister Paul Calandra alongside other families who have joined the Hold Schools Accountable parent network.

(Submitted)

“It validated our voices,” he says. “They get it, and this is a beginning step, but our parent network wants to see action. Schools and boards must be held accountable and there need to be consequences when they don’t follow policies.”

With the ongoing focus of the PC government to reform school board spending and board management, including the recent announcement of four school boards being placed under ministry supervision, Knight says now is the perfect time for his recommendations to be considered. 

“Kids are being hurt, and the trauma to a child is just one element here. Trust is now being eroded.”

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