Recently it has come out in the press regarding a terrible racial incident at Lord Byng and the failure of the school, VSB, and police to deal with it.  It seems they wanted to sweep it under the rug.  It brought to mind an incident at Prince of Wales.

An Asian born grade 8 student was curbed by some older (likely white) P.W. students.  This is where they grind the head of the individual into a drainage grate.  The student was seriously hurt.  The next day staff were all called into an emergency staff meeting where we were told of the incident, and told not to speak to the press or parents about it because it might hurt the reputation of Prince of Wales.  I was appalled.  The perpetrators were clearly children of wealthy west-side parents who formed a large part of the school population.  At no point did I become aware of any punishments or counselling meted out to the perpetrators nor were they identified.   Some months went by and the student hadn't returned to my beginning band class.  I inquired as to how he was doing and was informed that his family had moved to the United States.  I sarcastically responded in outrage, Well then, I guess problem solved!"  This speaks to the only slightly out of sight racial problems that pervade the local education system.  Many Administrators are more concerned with the reputation of the school and themselves personally, and general reluctance to deal with anything requiring work and/or compassion.  It reinforced why I had so many problems with them and the School Board over the years...sad to see that nothing much has changed.