B.C. principal accused of slur against pupil
'You belong in a retard school'
Robert Remington --National Post, --with files from The Prince Rupert Daily News
A British Columbia school district will investigate allegations a principal told a gifted student he belongs in "a retard school."
Don and Lonnie Wilson of Port Edward, a community of 700 about 15 kilometres south of Prince Rupert, say their nine-year-old son, Richard, was verbally abused on Nov. 27 by principal Dawn Quast at Port Edward Elementary School.
Ms. Quast, who became principal in September, allegedly told the Grade 4 student, in front of his classmates: "You don't belong in the gifted program, you belong in a retard school."
Richard is one of three students in the school of 89 pupils who is given advanced instruction and extra work. When their son completed one paragraph of a three-paragraph report, the Wilsons say, Ms. Quast took him out of the gifted program and marched him across the hall to his regular class. As Richard attempted to explain himself, Ms. Quast allegedly made the "retard" comment.
Ms. Quast has declined to comment.
Bob David, superintendent of schools, said yesterday he also could not comment on the matter. Under the collective agreement with the teachers' union, disciplinary actions are considered personnel matters and details are not to be released to the media or public.
However, Mr. David acknowledged in an earlier interview with The Prince Rupert Daily News that Ms. Quast made the remark, but in a different context. "What she said to me was this: He [Richard] made some inane comment and she said to him, 'What you said sounds like something that might be said by a student who's in a retarded school, not someone who's in the gifted program, like you are.'
"It was not intended to insult the child or put him down," Mr. David said. But he acknowledged the remark was inappropriate.
The Wilsons have withdrawn their son from classes. They said Richard was traumatized by the incident and took several weeks to tell them what happened.
"When I went to school, I got the strap," Mr. Wilson said. "I got a pointer hit over the top of my head. But not one of those teachers ever called me a name, belittled me or bullied me in that type of manner."
Under the British Columbia School Act, discipline for students "must be similar to that of a kind, firm and judicious parent, but must not include corporal punishment."
While not commenting directly on this particular case, Terry Foster, a media relations officer with the B.C. Ministry of Education, said: "I don't think verbal abuse would be used by a kind, firm and judicious parent."
The Wilsons are asking that Ms. Quast, an educator for 30 years, be suspended pending the investigation. The school district has refused to suspend her, said the Wilsons, who are appealing that decision.
They are also asking that the investigation be conducted by an independent third party. Peter Porte, the district's assistant superintendent, has been appointed to investigate the matter. "We don't feel the assistant superintendent can be impartial," Ms. Wilson said. |
