Latest news with #PublicSchoolsBranch
CTV News
24-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
P.E.I. developing new school food policy in wake of auditor general report
Prince Edward Island is developing a new school food policy nearly a year after an auditor general report revealed an overwhelming majority of provincial schools are not compliant with nutrition guidelines. The report, released last August, looked at 21 schools from the English-language Public Schools Branch (PSB) and two from the Commission scolaire de langue francaise (CSLF). It found 95 per cent of PSB schools and 50 per cent of CSLF schools were not in compliance with their nutrition policies. 'The PSB and the CSLF have school nutrition policies dated 2016 and 2011, respectively,' the audit read. 'These policies are not based on the most recent version of Canada's Food Guide published in 2019.' The Department of Education and Early Years says it has hired a registered dietitian as a school food project coordinator following the release of the report. 'They will lead the development of a new school food policy on behalf of both the Public Schools Branch and the Commission scolaire de langue française,' a written statement from the department reads. 'Work on this policy began in May 2025, with broad consultations planned for the fall. 'The policy will be aligned with current evidence and best practices, including the 2019 Canada's Food Guide.' According to the report, many P.E.I. schools lacked the processes to monitor if food and beverages complied with nutrition policies. The auditor general's report noted P.E.I. had the second-highest rate of food insecurity in Canada in 2022, with roughly 41 per cent of children under the age of 18 experiencing it at the time. For more P.E.I. news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CBC
22-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
P.E.I. child and youth advocate questions inquiry into PSB's handling of Craswell case
Social Sharing Prince Edward Island's child and youth advocate is raising concerns about an upcoming review of school policies in the wake of a former substitute teacher's sex crimes case. The Progressive Conservative government ordered the third-party inquiry of Public Schools Branch policies and procedures spurred by the case of Matthew Alan Craswell. Craswell, 40, pleaded guilty last month to one count of sexual interference over the way in which he touched a young female student while teaching at Stratford's Glen Stewart Primary School during a classroom game in April 2024. Marvin Bernstein, the province's independent child and youth advocate, said it's "lamentable" that officials with the province's Education Department didn't reach out to his office directly after the case came to light. "A preferable course of action would have been early, proactive and direct communication with the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate by the Department of Education and Early Years and the Public Schools Branch, particularly with respect to the advocate's statutory role of oversight of public bodies providing reviewable services to children and youth," Bernstein wrote in a letter released to the public Friday morning. He also noted that "constructive discussions" have since taken place between his office and provincial staff. Many questions were raised during the spring sitting of the P.E.I. Legislature after CBC News reported on Craswell's guilty plea on the sexual interference charge, as well as on three unrelated child pornography charges. Some questions from the opposition parties involved the fact that education officials did not notify either police or Child Protection Services officials about the complaints that Craswell had allegedly touched children inappropriately on two reported occasions. Allegations of similar behaviour at Charlottetown's West Kent Elementary School in 2023 eventually came to light during the police investigation. PSB officials also allowed Craswell to keep teaching at the high school level following the Stratford primary school investigation. Those facts led opposition MLAs to quiz the government over school officials' duty to report, a provision of the province's Child, Youth and Family Services Act that outlines the legal obligation for anyone to report a suspected case of child abuse to authorities as soon as possible. In his letter, Bernstein wrote that he was "troubled by the pervasive lack of understanding" around the duty to report, saying the province's focus should not be on providing school staff with more training on how to investigate complaints of misconduct. Instead, he said they may need retraining on their mandatory obligation to report incidents to the proper authorities, who would then investigate. "The Office of the Child and Youth Advocate is deeply concerned with the perception that the private verification of protection concerns on the part of educators and other staff working in schools is required or precludes mandatory reporting to Child Protection Services or to the police," he wrote. Questions around review's independence The facts revealed in court as Craswell pleaded guilty led P.E.I. Premier Rob Lantz to rise in the legislature to apologize to Island parents. The province later named P.E.I.'s former chief justice, David Jenkins, to head the third-party review of the Public Schools Branch and its practices. That process is set to begin June 2. Bernstein indicated in the letter that his office may also choose to conduct its own investigation that "would be systemic in nature, reaching conceptually and temporally beyond the specific case at hand and exercising the advocate's statutory power to compel information across government departments." While saying he holds Jenkins's career and reputation "in high esteem," the child and youth advocate raised concerns about the independence of the provincial review. "It must be noted that such a review, although conducted by a third party, remains government-directed, with the Department of Education and Early Years and Public Schools Branch controlling the terms of reference, compensation to the reviewer, and ultimately, the decision as to what content is publicly released and how this is done," Bernstein wrote. "In addition, a third-party review, in and by itself, does not provide the public with any assurance that there will be a mechanism for objectively monitoring and publicly reporting on the implementation of the recommendations contained in the third-party report." Premier welcomes involvement Asked on Thursday to respond to what Bernstein's embargoed news release said, Lantz said he welcomes an additional investigation conducted by the child and youth advocate, saying the matter needs "all the eyes that we can get." Island students continue to attend school every day, with no immediate actions taken to ensure... that schools are safer places today than they were before. "[Bernstein's] office is an independent office, and we can't direct him to undertake investigations. He actually has the independent authority to undertake an investigation of any kind that he sees fit to do," the premier told CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin. "In his letter, he's outlined that he may in fact do that, and I would encourage him." Lantz added that Jenkins will have broad and independent authority to conduct his review, and has the same powers to compel witnesses and documents as the child and youth advocate would have. WATCH | What Premier Rob Lantz had to say on the latest Matthew Craswell developments: What Premier Rob Lantz had to say on the latest Matthew Craswell developments 12 hours ago Duration 0:56 P.E.I. Premier Rob Lantz says there are questions he's hoping a third-party review into the Matthew Craswell case will answer. The former substitute teacher pleaded guilty to sexual touching of a female student at Glen Stewart Primary School during a classroom game in 2024. Lantz says the Public Schools Branch will turn over timelines and documentation as part of the review process. Student rights 'cannot be placed on hold' Bernstein said he will review Jenkins's report once it's released, then will hold a public town hall meeting to get feedback on whether an independent investigation by the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate is needed. Meanwhile, Bernstein criticized the province for deferring any such public meetings to address the safety of children in Island schools until after the Jenkins review is complete. He said the rights of students "cannot be placed on hold while the third-party review is taking place out of a sense of convenience or for the avoidance of accountability... "The reality is that Island students continue to attend school every day, with no immediate actions taken to ensure ... that schools are safer places today than they were before recent information entered the public discourse," he said in the news release.
CBC
16-05-2025
- CBC
PSB parts ways with senior employee after new information emerges in Craswell case
Social Sharing The Public Schools Branch says a senior employee is no longer with the organization, after it emerged that the person knew about a 2023 complaint involving substitute teacher Matthew Craswell while involved in the investigation of a 2024 incident at a different P.E.I. school. Craswell pleaded guilty last month to one count of sexual interference over the way in which he touched a young female student at Stratford's Glen Stewart Primary School during a classroom game in April 2024. The Public Schools Branch had previously said nobody dealing with the 2024 complaint knew there had been a similar allegation at West Kent Elementary School in Charlottetown in June 2023. If the branch had known of the earlier incident, PSB director Tracy Beaulieu has maintained, Craswell's actions would have been reported to "the appropriate authorities." Police say a West Kent parent believed a 2023 school touching incident had been reported to them. It hadn't. But on Friday, Beaulieu sent out a letter to parents with new information. "This week, new information was uncovered that a senior employee at the PSB who participated in the investigation of the April 2024 complaint was aware of the June 2023 incident," the letter said, in part. "This does not align with what had been previously shared with the PSB leadership. This omission has impacted how we have communicated about this issue over the past two weeks. "As a result of this new information, this individual is no longer employed at the PSB." The letter didn't specify whether that person had been fired or submitted a resignation. "Many of you have reached out over the past two weeks, some with questions and others offering words of support," Beaulieu's letter said. "Although this has been a difficult time for many of us, we are committed to strengthening the Public Schools Branch." CBC News reached out to the Public Schools Branch for more information about what happened. "There is little more information we can offer you beyond this message due to privacy and confidentiality constraints, and will not be taking interviews on this matter," a spokesman replied by email late Friday afternoon. WATCH | Public Schools Branch speaks after substitute teacher's sexual touching revealed: Public Schools Branch speaks after substitute teacher's sexual touching revealed 9 days ago Duration 9:47 Public Schools Branch director Tracy Beaulieu tells the CBC's Nicola MacLeod what steps were taken when Matthew Craswell's inappropriate touching of students was brought forward, and why officials did not feel the need to contact police. Many questions were raised during the just-ended spring sitting of the P.E.I. Legislative Assembly after CBC News reported on Craswell's guilty plea on the sexual interference charge, as well as on three unrelated child pornography charges. Some questions from the opposition parties involved the fact that neither police nor Child Protection Services officials were notified about the complaints that Craswell had allegedly touched children inappropriately. WATCH | P.E.I. premier apologizes after former substitute pleads guilty to sexual touching at primary school: P.E.I. premier apologizes after former substitute pleads guilty to sexual touching at primary school 16 days ago Duration 7:04 Premier Rob Lantz told the P.E.I. Legislature on Wednesday that he was 'profoundly sorry' in response to a question about Matthew Alan Craswell, who worked as a substitute teacher as recently as last year, before being arrested on charges related to child sex abuse images and an incident where he sexually touched a girl in a classroom in front of other students. Watch the legislative exchange including the apology here. Then there was the fact that he was allowed to keep teaching at the high school level following the Stratford elementary school investigation by PSB officials. The facts revealed in court as Craswell pleaded guilty led Premier Rob Lantz to rise in the legislature to apologize to Island parents. Among other things, court documents said Craswell bragged about his sexually abusive behaviour online and counselled like-minded people on how to do the same. He also wrote about sexually touching three other girls while teaching them. P.E.I.'s former chief justice, David Jenkins, has been named to head a third-party review of the Public Schools Branch and its practices in the wake of all the allegations. "We await The Honourable David H. Jenkins' review and hope it will help us all advance our efforts to ensure strong and well-resourced collective policies, processes, and structures," the PSB's spokesperson said in his Friday afternoon email.
CBC
13-05-2025
- CBC
West Kent parent thought school reported 2023 incident to police; investigators were never called
Charlottetown Police say a parent visited their headquarters in August of 2024 looking for an update on the investigation into a substitute teacher who allegedly improperly touched her child. But nobody from the school or the Public Schools Branch had reported the allegations to police. CBC's Nicola MacLeod has the story.
CBC
09-05-2025
- CBC
PSB says it connected Craswell incidents in P.E.I. schools only after his 1st arrest
Former substitute was moved to high schools to align with his training, not due to complaint, director says WARNING: This story contains descriptions of child sex abuse and other content that may be disturbing to readers. The director of P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch says the organization connected two classroom incidents involving Matthew Alan Craswell only after he was arrested on unrelated child pornography charges last summer. Tracy Beaulieu sat down with CBC News for an interview Tuesday for the first time since Craswell pleaded guilty last week to sexual touching at Stratford's Glen Stewart Primary, as well as child pornography offences. "Once we found out about the charges that were in place for Mr. Craswell, we went and looked into our records to see, was there anything that we had? And it did unfold that there was an investigation done in April [2024]," Beaulieu told CBC News. "At that moment in time, we thought: 'We need to notify police.'" Media Video | Public Schools Branch speaks after substitute teacher's sexual touching revealed Caption: Public Schools Branch Director Tracy Beaulieu tells the CBC's Nicola MacLeod what steps were taken when Matthew Craswell's inappropriate touching of students was brought forward, and why officials did not feel the need to contact police. Open Full Embed in New Tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. Craswell, 40, originally faced child pornography charges related to possession and distribution after he used the messaging app Kik to send images depicting child sex abuse that were flagged by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the United States. CBC News reached out to the PSB at that time to confirm that the Matthew Craswell who was charged was the same one who was referring to himself online as a P.E.I. substitute teacher. The charges related to the Glen Stewart incident were laid in the following days. "There was another incident that came up and we realized we need a centralized tracking system," Beaulieu said. "If the information would have been in a centralized location, we might have identified trends in that and looked at things a little bit differently." Both investigations ruled out sexual motive The first report known to CBC News involving Craswell's behaviour was at a school in June 2023. Little is known about this event, but sources told CBC News it happened at a Charlottetown-area elementary school. Beaulieu said the incident was investigated, but she would not share details for privacy reasons. "We had not had any information at that point in time through the investigation that happened to suggest that there was malicious intent by Matthew Craswell," Beaulieu said. "There would have been an investigation that involved statements from parents, and statements from students and staff, and that was the decision that was made at the time. "However, now we hear quite a different story and that's what's really difficult." Court records show the details of that incident came to light for investigators last fall, after Craswell's devices had been seized from his Cornwall home and his online activity was anaylzed. If anybody would have suspected that he had a criminal intent in mind... he would have been done. — Tracy Beaulieu, Public Schools Branch director Investigators learned that Craswell had boasted about sexually touching three girls while teaching them. Police contacted the girls' families after that, but the parents ultimately decided not to allow their children to move forward with police interviews, so the investigation did not continue and Craswell was never charged over those allegations. The only school incident for which Craswell faced charges was at Glen Stewart the next year. After that incident, a parent went to the school's principal at the time, and that person consulted with the PSB. In neither case were police or Child Protection Services officials contacted. That's despite a section of P.E.I.'s Child Sex Abuse Protocol that reads: "The Child Protection Act requires mandatory reporting of suspected cases of child sexual abuse to the director of child protection or a peace officer and applies to everyone including school/program personnel. "The obligation to report is unrestricted by any pre-condition that the complaint be first reported within the respective departments, services or agencies, even if the perpetrator is alleged to be an employee of that institution, service or agency." Beaulieu said the PSB did its own investigations into both cases and found no evidence to suggest the incidents, in which Craswell touched students on their stomach and legs, were sexual in nature. "Those decisions would have been made based on the statement of facts at the time about whether there was an intent and harm directed at students," Beaulieu said. "From that, I have been informed there was no intent or malicious intent behind it. And that's why there would not have been a call." Beaulieu told CBC News it is standard for schools to conduct their own investigations with assistance from the Public Schools Branch's human resources or student services teams. "People won't allow predatory behaviour if they suspect that it's there," she said. Craswell was moved to high schools Another detail that came out in court was that after the April 2024 internal investigation, Craswell taught only older children going forward. Beaulieu said that was because of Craswell's own background and experience, and it was unconnected to the reported incident and investigation done at Glen Stewart. "It was deemed that he's high-school trained, and placements of people tend to be in the areas that they are formally trained," Beaulieu said. "If anybody would have suspected that he had a criminal intent in mind, he wouldn't have been placed anywhere in our system. Not high school. Not anywhere. He would have been done… RCMP would have been notified." When asked about the authority the PSB has to conduct investigations instead of allowing trained police investigators to take over, Beaulieu said: "That's where we have engaged with working with child protective services." She added: "We want to talk with police and really outline all of those factors so that we ensure that the people that are discussing these matters and investigating these matters have the appropriate training and understanding." Beaulieu said the PSB has already begun those conversations with both child protection and police services. "We can ensure going forward that we are all solid making those decisions," she said. The director said other changes have already been made, with officials not waiting for Craswell's guilty pleas last week. According to Beaulieu, the PSB adopted the recently announced centralized tracking system for staff complaints over the last school year. All school staff have also participated in the newly required Commit to Kids training program from the Canadian Centre for Child Protection. WATCH | Former chief justice of P.E.I. Supreme Court named to handle review of PSB's handling of complaints: Media Video | Former chief justice of P.E.I. Supreme Court named to handle review of PSB's handling of complaints Caption: P.E.I.'s former chief justice David Jenkins (shown) will lead a review looking at policies and procedures in Island schools to protect students from sexual predators. This, after a former substitute teacher pleaded guilty last week to sexual interference, in a case involving an elementary school student. CBC's Kerry Campbell reports. Open Full Embed in New Tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. Beaulieu said the PSB will do whatever it takes to regain the trust of Island families, and it's open to other suggestions. When asked about accountability in the Public Schools Branch, Beaulieu said there is only one person accountable for what happened. "It's Matthew Craswell," she said. "What we need to do as a system is make sure that we are doing everything we can to ensure that someone like a Matthew Craswell doesn't get through those gaps and cracks anymore." Work timeline, vulnerable sector check questions remain Beaulieu also raised concerns about the vulnerable-sector checks conducted by RCMP for the PSB, which she says did not reveal Craswell's 2018 voyeurism allegation from South Korea. She said they learned of that open extradition request only last week, which makes her question the faith many people had in the vulnerable-sector check process. "It's important for all organizations that service children and youth to be aware of those things as well and to really ensure that all of their systems in place are done so ... we can prevent these child predators from having access to children and youth in our province," she said. The PSB has said Craswell passed his most recent check in December of 2023, which allowed him to continue to work in Island schools. That would have been after the June 2023 incident, but before the April 2024 incident. While an agreed statement of facts admitted in court said Craswell "commenced employment" with the PSB in approximately 2023, CBC News has received reports that he was substituting in P.E.I. before 2023, as early as the decade prior. The PSB has not yet laid out the timeline of Craswell's employment, so it remains unclear when he would have passed his first vulnerable sector check and how many he has passed since. "I cannot comment on the Craswell matter while it is still before the court. Results of vulnerable-sector checks are protected under the Privacy Act," Cpl. Gavin Moore said in an email to CBC News. Documents filed in court showed that in the summer of 2024, while investigating Craswell's sending of child-abuse images on Kik, RCMP were able to use the Police Recording and Operations System (PROS) to find out about the South Korean allegation. "PROS also indicated that the accused resided at this [Cornwall residence], and that the accused had been the subject of an extradition request from South Korea in relation to allegations that he had committed a voyeurism offence when residing there in September of 2018," the agreed facts document reads. "No action was taken by Canadian government officials in relation to that matter."
