The Eastern Townships School Board has been “negligent” in handling alleged student misconduct, according to Quebec Solidarity (QS) MP Ruba Ghazal. The latter demands the resignation of its president, Michael Murray.
THURSDAY, The duty revealed that a teenager facing numerous criminal charges for incidents of a sexual nature reported by students at the English-language Massey-Vanier high school in Cowansville had been the subject of denunciations by students and parents from primary school.
“We tolerated a situation that was intolerable. There was a kind of incompetence, negligence. I think Mr. Murray can no longer stay in office. It’s too big, it’s gross what happened. They had an obligation to protect the students and they did not do it,” says Ms.me Ghazal, in interview with The duty.
In our pages, Mr. Murray argued Thursday that his school board has “neither ignored nor neglected the situation”. “We took measures that we thought were adequate […] advise him, follow him, monitor him when necessary. […] Obviously and unfortunately, it was not enough. »
“You will also understand that as a public school board, we do not always have the time to refuse [de scolariser un élève] “, he added.
The spokesperson for the Parti Québécois (PQ) Méganne Perry Mélançon believes that it is necessary to carry out an investigation into the management of the situation by the school board of Mr. Murray. “Before asking for a simple resignation, we are asking for an investigation into the specific management of this case, to see how far we have closed our eyes. Mr. Murray denies the facts that he knew that this young person lived in one of his properties. You have to get to the bottom of things,” says Ms.me Perry Melancon.
The PQ spokesperson also considers that the events in Cowansville are a reminder of the need for a framework law concerning sexual violence in schools.
“It is a clear example of the failure of the system, of the fact that we have no control and that we cannot go as far as to kidnap a young person when we know that he was involved in misconduct sex for a very long time. The fact is that there is no law, a lack of tools, of protocols in the schools. We are faced with a management that has not taken its responsibilities. It is not normal that we are more concerned with the confidentiality of a case than with the protection of the students. »
For its part, the office of the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, said it had to refrain from commenting since the case of the teenager is “under police investigation”.
Contacted by The dutythe Eastern Townships School Board declined to comment on Ms.meGhazal.
The involvement of the DYP
QS spokesperson for education, Ruba Ghazal, also questions the role of the Department of Youth Protection (DPJ) in the case.
“The investigation should see what went wrong at the DPJ and take action. This child should have been removed and the system should have taken care of him, ”says Ms.me Ghazal.
A position shared by Brigitte Garceau, the member of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) who spoke on social networks Thursday morning: “How could we leave young girls at risk for so long? For his own good and that of others, this young boy should have been taken out of school and cared for by the DPJ, ”she said in her publication.