Discovery Elementary parents say religious accommodation is giving way to bullying

[J529]

Watch the full story here:

http://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=314279

This community has been emotionally bullied by one family, and the problem has escalated due to the School Board’s inability and refusal to deal with the problem.

The rally is also to support a teacher who has been harassed by the family and unjustly accused of racism on a Ministry of Education website. This teacher has not been able to return to work because of the unsafe situation.

The situation began 7 years ago at Ecole Mill Bay, with a family who had a kindergarten child. Very soon the classroom teacher was accused of racism by the mother, for mentioning certain types of food and reading a story that mentioned pigs, and later on for having some small felt stockings on the calendar in December. The mother reported the teacher to the then College of Teachers for racism and demanded an investigation. Of course, the teacher was found to be not guilty.

Vicious emails were written by the family, the principal’s time was monopolized, teachers and the principal were yelled at in front of children. The school tried very hard to be accommodating, and the school district went along with the demands. This was not good enough for the family and they accused the whole school of racism, and moved to DiscoverySchool where the same thing began again.

Over the years, several teachers that had to deal with the family were so upset that they took time off. Principals were reduced to tears on many occasions. Worst of all the children in the school had to listen to their teachers being yelled at by the mother, to witness their teachers crying, and to worry constantly about what they said in case it was against the rules.

Throughout all of this all teachers were told not to talk about the situation. Recently when the children wanted to start a petition to get their music teacher back, they were told they were not allowed to do that and would be disciplined.

A religious accommodation plan was put into place for all teachers who taught the children. Most winter songs were prohibited—even if they did not mention Christmas. Certain foods are not to be discussed. Money has been spent on mediators, conflict resolution, and now a retired principal has been hired to come in and assist at the school.

Several parents and other members of the community have had to put restraining orders on the family to protect themselves from aggressive behavior.

The school district, and administration chose to try to do what the bullying family wanted – probably because they have been threatened with law suits. All teachers were so afraid of losing their jobs that when accused or intimidated, they went along with all that the family wanted.

Our friend Amy taught the children for 5 years as the music teacher and also for one year as a classroom teacher. Teachers felt that they were all walking on eggshells—if someone made a mistake and mentioned a word, sang a song, or talked about a story that was not allowed, the whole class would freeze, and the teacher would go home worrying about the possible repercussions.

Finally one day Amy suggested that they may do a line dance to Jingle Bell Rock, thinking that it had no religious connotation. She cleared it with the principal and followed the religious accommodation plan. Unfortunately the child decided that her suggestion of this song constituted bullying. Here is her story.

Amy Matamba was accused of Racism/Discrimination through Christy Clark and the Ministry of Education’s Erase Bullying site for attempting to play the music for Jingle Bell Rock as an accompaniment to a line dance lesson.

She followed the Religious Accommodation Plan to the best of her ability, which the District was informed of in her initial investigation.

Mrs. Matamba was greatly offended and intimidated by not only the accusations, but also the lack of process and how the District has handled this situation. She has asked that the District support her and recognize that these allegations are “false”, inform the family that it is a serious offense to falsely accuse and that this is not how we resolve problems, and finally to assure a proper process is put in place so other teachers do not get hurt.

Three months later, the District has refused and is insisting on another investigation of Amy Matamba and her adherence to the Religious Accommodation Plan.

After another full investigation to determine her responsibility to this situation, she is to then write a formal apology with the District and, if requested, read the apology in person to the family. If she does not cooperate, a formal Letter of Expectation will be sent, at which point they will have the right to discipline Mrs. Matamba.

Mrs Matamba does have the support of parents, the children, other teachers, the CDTA, and even some members of the administration.

Unfortunately the School Board seems to be trying to placate the family and to sweep this under the carpet yet again. She is being made a scapegoat because she refused to be intimidated. Amy is the first teacher, who has stood up and demanded that the school board defend its employees, the children and parents from this aggressive family.

[J529]

Easy way to deal with this situation is to kick the family's kid out of the school. Who is the family to make demands about lesson plans, music, etc. and threatening teachers. Unbelievable. This is Canada. Don't like it then go back to where you came from.

I saw this story on the news and Superintendent is complete idiot and doesn't want to deal with this matter. He even told parents not to attend rally as it would enflame the situation, which they completely ignored and did attend.

[VICanucksfan5551]

If your beliefs are so fragile that they can be shaken by the mention of types of food and pigs, then maybe it's time to evaluate their validity.

[DonLever]

Don't like it then go back to where you came from.

Isn't that a racist statement? How do you they are from outside the country? More likely they were from Canada.

It is this: the parent who is complaining is saying Jingle Bells is religious and should not be played in a secular school.

In other word, it is someone who is anti-religion.

[key2thecup]

Growing up Sikh, my parents could care less that we celebrated Easter and Christmas back in elementary, they actually welcomed it and we use to have a Christmas tree every year while I was young too..... I've never felt racism from any teacher before.

Never felt encroached on my religious beliefs, and to be honest they wouldn't even teach us the religious origins of the major holidays, Easter was about bunnies and Christmas was about santa...

[King Heffy]

If you want that much control over how your kids are educated, homeschool them.

[VICanucksfan5551]

Isn't that a racist statement? How do you they are from outside the country? More likely they were from Canada.

It is this: the parent who is complaining is saying Jingle Bells is religious and should not be played in a secular school.

In other word, it is someone who is anti-religion.

Agree that the "go back to where you came from" is stupid, but this sounds a lot more like Wahhabism than anti-religion.

[jannik freaking hansen]

The whole district is being held hostage by some overzealous parent's BS. I assume they couldn't just simply kick the kids out and say homeschool them, which is what should be happening. If the parent is so concerned about the curriculum and what is being said in the classroom then they could simply avoid this whole situation by educating their own damn kids.

[Aladeen]

If your beliefs are so fragile that they can be shaken by the mention of types of food and pigs, then maybe it's time to evaluate their validity.

[ilduce39]

Wow.. if the stories are true the family should have been sectioned off the bat.. school admin need to do a better job of protecting staff/students/other parents. Completely ridiculous.

[Tre Mac]

Pathetic. I agree with the 'go back to where you came from.' sentiment.

[J529]

Isn't that a racist statement? How do you they are from outside the country? More likely they were from Canada.

It is this: the parent who is complaining is saying Jingle Bells is religious and should not be played in a secular school.

In other word, it is someone who is anti-religion.

If you believe it's racist statement then so be it. I'm fed up of religions that come from other countries and want to push their agenda here. Do you think if Canadians went to their country and did likewise they would allow it Not chance. If you choose to live in Canada, you go by how we live.

Either way, this family seems to have notion and entitlement in which they use the religious card and making threats if their demands aren't met.

[jannik freaking hansen]

Isn't that a racist statement? How do you they are from outside the country? More likely they were from Canada.

It is this: the parent who is complaining is saying Jingle Bells is religious and should not be played in a secular school.

In other word, it is someone who is anti-religion.

It is quite obvious this parent isn't anti-religion. They do not want the school to even mention pigs or certain foods. If I had to hazard a guess I would say this parent is part of Islam and wants the schools to make extreme concessions to accommodate her and her children's religion. For example, if I have vegan children should I be asking the school to accommodate my beliefs and never mention meat products in front of my children? If I'm Christian should I blast the school for recognizing Hanukkah or Ramadan? Part of creating a more tolerant generation is learning about others beliefs so that you can be more aware and understanding of them in the future.

[Jägermeister]

I feel bad for the kids.

[Tortorella's Rant]

In other news: in Tennessee, students are now allowed to bully and put down others verbally in the name of "religious freedom".

[Jägermeister]

In other news: in Tennessee, students are now allowed to bully and put down others verbally in the name of "religious freedom".

But only if you are a White Christian.

[J529]

I'm sure this family has also demanded and made threats to have Christmas cancelled.

[DonLever]

Everyone is guessing they are Muslims but how do we know they are not atheist?

[VICanucksfan5551]

Everyone is guessing they are Muslims but how do we know they are not atheist?

Why would an atheist get mad at the mention of pigs?

[Tortorella's Rant]

The whole district is being held hostage by some overzealous parent's BS. I assume they couldn't just simply kick the kids out and say homeschool them, which is what should be happening. If the parent is so concerned about the curriculum and what is being said in the classroom then they could simply avoid this whole situation by educating their own damn kids.

That is nonsensical to them. Parents like this are like the zealots in the Southern US. They want public schools to conform to their beliefs and only their beliefs and will cry religious persecution otherwise. Any other alternatives like treating all faiths equally in school or only allowing science in science class is unacceptable.