‘Significant crisis': Number of violent incidents reported in Ontario's schools grows
Years' worth of data shows the level of violence reported by school boards to the Ministry of Education has risen by 77 per cent since the Progressive Conservatives took office, with more than 4,400 incidents reported in the 2023-24 year alone.
The rate of violent incidents has risen annually since the 2018-19 school year, with the exception of the COVID-19 pandemic, when school boards were closed for long stretches.
The information, obtained by Global News using freedom of information laws, has led to renewed calls from teachers and opposition politicians for the government to address what some call a growing 'crisis.'
'It confirms what parents and educators have been saying for some time — that there is a significant crisis of violence in our classrooms and the violence is getting worse over time,' NDP MPP Chandra Pasma said.
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The Ministry of Education acknowledged the numbers were increasing.
'To address rising violence in our schools and communities, our government has increased funding for school safety initiatives to the highest in Ontario history, including more funding to hire psychologists, social workers, child/youth workers and educational assistants to enhance direct services for students,' a spokesperson said.
More than 4,400 incidents last year
A summary of all the violence incidents reported to the government by Ontario's school boards over the past seven years shows a significant increase, especially since the pandemic.
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In 2018-19, schools reported 2,499 incidents across the province over the course of the academic year. The next year, it rose to 3,237.
The figures dropped to just 993 during the 2020-21 year and 2,866 the year after, as the pandemic wound up and school returned to a normal schedule.
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By 2022-23, the numbers spiked up to 4,414 violent incidents through the year. Last year, officials saw a marginal increase, taking the total to a recent record of 4,424.
Use the chart above to explore the total number of incidents reported in Ontario, as well as a board-by-board breakdown. Note that the Y-axis will change depending on your selection.
The Peel District School Board reported the highest number of violent incidents in the 2023-24 year, with 431. That was a drop from the year before, when Peel's 717 violent incidents made up 16 per cent of every altercation reported in the entire province.
The Toronto District School Board, the largest in the country, had the second-highest number of incidents in 2023-24 at 410. Halton District School Board also appeared high in the statistics with 237.
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Martha Hradowy, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, said those in classrooms had been noticing the increase for some time.
'Our members are reporting to us that the level of respect for teachers, for education workers, has seen a steady decline for the last number of years,' she said.
Last year, an OSSTF survey of members came to the same conclusion. It found teachers were struggling with a surge of violent attacks, including biting, hitting and kicking, as well as students using furniture to harm staff.
The survey included the anonymized accounts of high school teachers.
'For the first time in my years as an educator, I dreaded coming to work every day,' one is quoted as saying in the study.
'I was starting to have severe anxiety and heart palpitations…I have a lot of skills, a lot of training…but what it came down to was there were not enough supports to meet the needs of those children in the classroom.'
Calls to increase funding
Chandra said the number of violent incidents in Ontario's classrooms was ultimately an issue of funding — something she accused the government of shying away from.
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'It's about children whose needs are not being met,' she said.
'We have a mental health crisis in our schools, but we don't have enough mental health professionals, so kids are asking for help and then they're not getting any until the following school year. We're closing special education programs, and so EAs are running from one crisis to the next, after the crisis has already happened.'
The Ministry of Education suggested a planned increased role for police in classrooms would help.
'The rise in school violence also coincides with the shortsighted decision of many school boards across the province, starting in 2017, to end School Resource Officer programs in schools,' the spokesperson said.
'This is why our government has introduced measures that will require school boards to work with police services to develop School Resource Officer and youth engagement programs that will help foster positive relationships between students and law enforcement while making schools safer.'
Pasma said addressing the rate of violence in schools was about increasing support for children, and paying the cost of hiring more staff to do that.
'Parents and teachers know the solution to this is providing the supports,' she said.
'It's having the investments to have additional caring adults in our schools. And until we have that, unfortunately, we're going to see the crisis continue to worsen.'
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