{"id":168253,"date":"2018-06-28T23:57:19","date_gmt":"2018-06-29T03:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=168253"},"modified":"2018-06-28T23:57:19","modified_gmt":"2018-06-29T03:57:19","slug":"students-call-for-resignation-of-principal-who-complied-list-of-black-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/06\/28\/students-call-for-resignation-of-principal-who-complied-list-of-black-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Students call for resignation of principal who complied list of black students"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"\u201cThe<\/a>
\u201cThe TDSB needs to be looking out for the students,\u201d she said, adding she wasn’t always comfortable raising concerns about race-related issues with school administration. (Photo by SimonP – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TORONTO \u2014\u00a0Students\u00a0from a Toronto school are calling for the resignation of a principal who compiled a list of\u00a0black\u00a0students\u00a0to track their performance.<\/p>\n

Peggy Aitchison, the principal at the Etobicoke School of the Arts, has said she compiled the list and circulated it among teachers in an attempt to categorize\u00a0students\u00a0with opportunity gaps, and acknowledged in an email to the school community that it was an \u201cinappropriate approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

She asked for a transfer to a different school in a public letter sent this week \u2014 a request the Toronto District School Board said it approved.<\/p>\n

The board has apologized for Aitchison’s actions, calling what she did a \u201cmistake.\u201d Aitchison did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Grade 12 student Marlee Sansom said she was \u201cunbelievably angry\u201d when she found out about the list from members of the school community. She said transferring Aitchison to another school isn’t enough, and called for the principal to resign as an employee with the board.<\/p>\n

\u201cTransferring someone just means they get a new start, a fresh start, and she can just redo that trauma somewhere else,\u201d said the 18-year-old, who noted that many of her peers felt the same. \u201cIt doesn’t help the\u00a0students\u00a0that are still in the school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sansom also said it was important for the board to thoroughly tackle issues of racial profiling in schools, and urged it to involve\u00a0students\u00a0in the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe TDSB needs to be looking out for the\u00a0students,\u201d she said, adding she wasn’t always comfortable raising concerns about race-related issues with school administration.<\/p>\n

Noah Brown, another Grade 12 student, said he saw his name on a copy of the list being shared among\u00a0students\u00a0and felt \u201cpure sadness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the course of this year I’ve been able to accomplish so much in terms of my art practice … I was disappointed because it was limiting my academic success to my identifiable race,\u201d said the 18-year-old. \u201cI didn’t know who to turn to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown said he wanted a direct apology from Aitchison.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was sort of letting the issue fade away rather than take it directly and be a responsible leader,\u201d he said, adding that Aitchison’s list is an indication she should no longer be an educator.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeggy Aitchison is not a suitable leader for (Etobicoke School of the Arts) as well as any other school,\u201d he said. \u201cIf TDSB continues to have this principal within their organization then I believe they tolerate racism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, alumni from the school have sent a petition to the board calling for Aitchison to either resign or undergo equity and anti-racism training.<\/p>\n

Former student Solana Cain, who co-created the petition, said the school holds\u00a0students\u00a0to rigorous standards, which indicates that those on Aitchison’s list are already high performers.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if this were not the case, the assumption she made was that\u00a0black\u00a0students\u00a0and families are inherently less capable than their white counterparts,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The TDSB said it received the petition and needed time to review the questions and concerns identified before responding.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2014\u00a0Students\u00a0from a Toronto school are calling for the resignation of a principal who compiled a list of\u00a0black\u00a0students\u00a0to track their …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":168258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[52303,52302,52304],"class_list":["post-168253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","tag-black-students","tag-list-of-black-students","tag-peggy-aitchison","mauthors-olivia-bowden","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}