The gall of Toronto District School Board (TDSB) education director Colleen Russell-Rawlins is beyond belief.
On Thursday, she issued a statement – jointly signed by two of her anti-oppression lieutenants Audley Salmon and Louse Sirisko – announcing an investigation into the tragic death of former TDSB principal Richard Bilkszto.
The board has retained the King International Advisory Group, which judging from its website is suitably woke and given the length of the investigation predicted in the statement, may cost the board a pretty penny.
“We want to better understand the facts involved and that is why the TDSB has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Richard’s passing,” Russell-Rawlins writes.
“Our intention is for this investigation to be conducted in a professional, sensitive and respectful manner.”
Bilkszto took his own life two weeks ago. His family claims he was under immense stress after being humiliated by a race “expert” the board hired to preach anti-black racism dogma, left hung to dry by his peers and cancelled by his TDSB superiors.
Needless to say the director’s words are not just grossly ironic but highly patronizing considering according to his claim and a Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) report, Bilkszto wasn’t treated with the slightest ounce of respect during or after two anti-racism sessions on April 26 and May 3 of 2021.
Russell-Rawlins goes on to say that “effective learning (during equity training sessions) takes place in a supportive environment that fosters honest dialogue and is based on respect and learning.”
Again if we are to believe the Bilkszto’s $750,000 lawsuit against the board, filed in April of this year, he was bullied and harassed continuously during the two sessions in question.
So there you have it.
A board source, who fears for his job, said they feel this investigation will be a whitewash. The source says the TDSB has used this company before and “holds the power and writes the narrative” – using taxpayer dollars to cover their butts.
The source referred to the climate of fear within the board due to Russell-Rawlins’ “scorched earth policy.”
I’ve covered enough school board shenanigans to recognize that the education director’s decision to undertake an investigation (and spend oodles of taxpayer money) is akin to the fox guarding the henhouse.
Unless King International Advisory Group is prepared to investigate Russell-Rawlins and the previous equity hires for their alleged abuse of poor Bilkszto, no real good will come out of it.
Let’s start with the contractor in question – Kike Ojo-Thompson.
It appears she and Russell-Rawlins, both activists, have been in similar professional circles for years.
When Russell-Rawlins was made interim director of the Peel District School Board, Ojo-Thompson was brought in to conduct anti-racism training with the board leadership.
The KOJO Institute quickly became a contractor of choice when Russell-Rawlins became director of the TDSB in August of 2021.
Sources say the contracts with Ojo-Thompson were always sole-sourced.
According to Biklzsto’s statement of claim, when he was bullied and harassed by Ojo-Thompson, a series of superintendents were among the 200 on the Zoom training. Not one said anything.
Not one person said a word when the contractor continued to harass him at a second session – suggesting that the TDSB take action against Bilkszto for allegedly choosing not to “unlearn” his white supremacism.
Even though a WSIB adjudicator ruled in the spring of 2021 that the speaker’s conduct was “abusive, egregious and vexatious,” the TDSB chose to take Ojo-Thompson’s advice.
The equity hires under the education director’s leadership doubled down and canceled many of his short-term contracts.
They reneged on a contract to hire the once sought after principal at Burnhamthorpe Collegiate when he returned from the sick leave mandated by the WSIB.
He had other contracts revoked by Russell-Rawlins’ acolytes and failed to get internal positions as well, the claim alleges.
Progressives like to say when they’re talking about the uptick in violence that they need to get to the root of the problem.
In my mind, the root of the problem is the toxic atmosphere and climate of fear created by the activists who head up the board, starting at the very top.
Bilkszto deserves a proper independent review of how he was treated.
If heads roll, so be it.
