Leanne Smith And Neil Sheard
The Sound Of Silence
80.1 The applicant’s parents send four separate emails the Superintendent of Education for Secondary Schools Leanne Smith and Superintendent of Curriculum and Student Achievement for Secondary Schools Neil Sheard.
80.2 Leanne Smith is apparently the actually representative for Thorold Secondary School, and at some point she elected to take a leave of absence after the start of the 20223–2024 academic year, and Neil Sheard assumed her duties until she returned.
80.3 The parents had no choice but to involve Neil Sheard in the conversation because they were unsure if he was in charge at the time of the September 25, 2023 incident or not, as they were unsure of Leanne Smith departure date.
80.4 Having said that, the applicants parents ended up emailing Janice Sargeant, Warren Hoshizaki, Leanne Smith, and Neil Sheard several times to inquire about who knew what and what measures were made to make sure that an occurrence of September 25, 2024 wouldn’t happen again.
80.5 A lot like Tracee Smith wanted to know “what concrete steps will be taken to make sure it won’t happen again?”
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80.6 As per the customary unwritten policy of the DSBN, all four individuals decline to address the parent’s requests for clarification regarding the identity of the current Superintendent of Education for Secondary Schools and how the racist events involving their son have been handled.
To: Janice Sargeant janice.sargeant@dsbn.org
Warren Hoshizaki warren.hoshizaki@dsbn.org
Dated: December 07, 2023
December 08, 2023
December 10, 2023
December 12, 2023
Did you inform Leanne Smith and/or Neil Sheard about the incidents regards our son and September 25, 2023? Where a the racist Caucasian student hurled racial slurs at a Black student and your employees Kevin Elzinga who “did not intervene” and Cameron Stone made up blatant lie that he “did interrupt and stopped and redirected students?”
We would like an detailed outline of what was said, by who and how “ the school is taking the appropriate action to ensure this does not happen again?”
To: Neil Sheard neil.sheard@dsbn.org
Leanne Smith leanne.smith@dsbn.org
Trish Beaudoin trish.beaudoin@dsbn.org
Dated: December 07, 2023
December 08, 2023
December 10, 2023
December 12, 2023
This email is being forwarded solely to inquire about your knowledge, if any, on the September 25, 2023, racist incident that took place at Thorold Secondary School. We are trying to find out if you were told about the incident by Janice Sargeant and if you knew what roles the two teachers, Cameron Stone and Kevin Elzinga, had in all of it. Furthermore, how did you contribute in the measures that were taken to guarantee that the right steps were done to make sure this doesn’t happen again?
80.7 Thus, the issue of the DSBN employee’s refusal to respond to the parents emails and concerns has arisen once more. Apparently what rights do the parents have to ask for an explanation from the DSBN, Warren Hoshizaki and Janice Sargeant about the action to prevent Kevin Elzinga’s racist behavior and Cameron Stone’s “hero syndrome” behavior from occurring in the future?
80.8 How dare the parents of the applicants refuse to accept the DSBN, Warren Hoshizaki and Janice Sargeant insurances at face value, given the events of the past two years and the lack of attention given to stop the racist behavior of Caucasian students at Thorold Secondary School!
80.9 There are numerous examples of DSBN and government policies in this material to demonstrate that parents have a right to a response that is “regularly and meaningfully with parents.”
80.10 It seems that after filing with the HRTO, the DSBN and their co-defendants have realized that it is best to remain silent and hope that the HRTO will overlook it. That hopefully all of the applications are rejected without requiring the defendants having to give a justification for their conduct.
80.11 Remember, at this stage, the applicant and his family have already suffered “harm” at the hands of the DSBN and its co-defendants, therefore their losses are now complete. For this reason, they believe that it is better to remain silent than to say something that could come back to haunt them.
80.12 There are now just two scenarios to choose from.
- Janice Sargeant withheld information regarding Kevin Elzinga and Cameron Stone racist behavior from Leanne Smith and/or Neil Sheard.
- Or Janice Sargeant did inform Leanne Smith and/or Neil Sheard, but exactly as Janice Sargeant did. They didn’t take any real action to make sure it wouldn’t occur again. That is to say, they remained silent because they could not explain their “appropriate action to ensure this does not happen again.”
80.13 All the applicant parents simply wanted to know was, what procedures were in place to deal with and stop the discriminatory behavior that the Caucasian student(s) and DSBN staff members Cameron Stone and Kevin Elzinga displayed on September 25, 2024, from ever occurring again?
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80.14 And the Sound of Silences once again plays.
80.15 It has been clear from the beginning that the DSBN views communication as a luxury and privilege extended to parents. And that you are only qualified for it and entitled to it if you have no issues with the DSBN and its employee’s racist culture.
80.16 The latest individuals to corroborate these claims made by the applicant and his parents are Leanne Smith and Neil Sheard. That these kind of inappropriate and intentional actions are commonplace thanks to the DSBN and their racist culture. That the DSBN does not care about parents comments on any topic when it comes time for the DSBN to protect their own employees.
80.17 That DSBN employees have free rein to act as they wish, do as they want and as long as they adhere (tow-the-line) to the racist cultural of the DSBN and Warren Hoshizaki. And in return DSBN coworkers and the DSBN will erect a massive wall of silence to shield them from accountability when the time is needed.