School board director commits to student safety after teacher barred from profession for 10 years

The Waterloo Region District School Board's top director is reassuring the school community that safety is a top priority, following a court decision involving a former teacher accused of assault.

In November 2021, a teacher at Alpine Public School in Kitchener, Ont.,was charged with two counts of assault after allegedly using masking tape ontwo childrenin herclassroom.

On Wednesday, the assault charges were withdrawn after the 53-year-old woman agreed to a peace bond that prevents her from teaching for a decade.She has resigned from her position with the school board.

jeewan chanicka, the school board's director of education, responded to the court decisionin a video statement directed to the school community Wednesday evening.

"Our most earnest goal is that every parent can send their child to school knowing that they will be safe, loved, cared for and welcomed," he said.

Addressing systemic racism

Last year, CBC News spoke to a parent of one of the children involved who felt that race was a factor.

In the video statement, chanickasaid he could not comment on the actual court decision, butcommitted to addressing systemic racism within the school board.

"We know that there will be some ... parents in our community, especially parents of Black, Indigenous and racialized students, who are wondering who will ensure the safety of their children when they send them off to school," he said.

"The promise that we're making to you, that I am making to you, is that we are committed to addressing systemic racism and oppression in all its forms, that we will continue to work to ensure the safety and well-being of all the students that we serve," he added.

The conditions of the accused's peace bond bars theformer teacher from applying for any paid or unpaid positions, or working or volunteering at any public, Catholic or private school in Canada for the next decade.

It also prohibits the teacher from working with children aged 12 or younger and forbids her from possessing any weapons for the next 10 years.