“Not taking action in the face of abuse”
For no less than ten years, “inappropriate behavior by a teacher towards young autistic adolescents continued,” we can read in the 2023-2024 annual report of the Québec Ombudsman, which has just been published.
“The repeated inaction of the school service centre and the school administration has seriously compromised the health and safety of vulnerable students placed under the protection of this administration,” added Marc-André Dowd, Ombudsman.
Following its usual policy, the agency does not give the names of the individuals and organizations involved because, it says, “the main thing is to protect the people who cooperated with the investigations.”
From the moment she was hired, the annual report states, the teacher “adopted behaviors that jeopardized the safety and psychological well-being of particularly vulnerable autistic students.” “She made fun of their disabilities or pushed them around, in addition to regularly having explosive tantrums toward them.”
How could this have lasted for ten years? The Québec Ombudsman explains that initially, a first director of the school at the time had given the teacher “numerous warnings” and had advised her that she would be fired if she started again.
“However,” the Québec Ombudsman continued, “she was absent shortly afterwards on extended sick leave. When she returned to work, a year later, the teacher was assigned to another school within the same school service centre.”
“All the assistant principals who were in office during this period tried various methods to supervise the teacher, without success.”
The Québec Ombudsman notes that “only one director had requested the support of the human resources department of the school service centre for the implementation of a disciplinary measure, but that this measure had ultimately not been implemented.”
It is ultimately “due to the inaction of the school management [que] school workers contacted the Public Protector.
The Ombudsman investigated and made recommendations. The teacher eventually retired after being suspended twice.
Retire, keep your job and pocket the money
Furthermore, the Québec Ombudsman conducted an investigation into the general director of a school service centre who retired while continuing to perform the same duties under contract. In doing so, she obtained “a more advantageous salary than the one to which she was entitled as a permanent employee”.
However, as the Ombudsman explains, the contract in question, which had not been awarded in accordance with the rules in force, was not valid.
“The investigation showed that the Director General put her financial interests forward at the expense of compliance with the procedures in force and her administrative obligations as Director General. The Québec Ombudsman therefore concludes that there was a serious breach of ethical and professional standards.”
Furthermore, the general manager “demanded overtime, even though a proper general manager contract would not have allowed her to do so.”
“In doing so, she received both the increased salary provided for in her contract as a contract employee, compensation for overtime not authorized for the position of general manager, as well as her retirement pension.”
The general manager had to reimburse the overtime she had been paid and the school service centre was called to order.
Irregular hiring and expenses
In another case, the Québec Ombudsman was asked to look into the case of an establishment director who had hired a former colleague as a consultant, “who himself hired the director’s spouse”, all in order to review the pedagogical approach of a program.
“The investigation revealed that in addition to violating the code of ethics on multiple occasions, the director had himself incurred expenses that far exceeded the amount of property he was authorized to acquire without authorization.”
The director “transgressed in several ways the school service center’s policy on acquiring goods and services.”
The director’s wife was finally removed from the didactic overhaul project.
“As for purchases made using a school principal’s credit card, they are now approved by the assistant director general of the school service centre,” the Québec Ombudsman also notes.
Individuals, associations, organizations or businesses that witness a reprehensible act committed within a public body can contact the Québec Ombudsman. They can do so by calling 1 800 463-5070 or by filling out a form on the organization’s website.