Students 'running the school in cauldron of violence,' says teacher at Saunders Secondary

A number of staff and students at Saunders Secondary School in London, Ont., say they don't feel safe and blame a culture of violence at the school.

"Over the last couple of years, it's been a tinderbox of violence," said Greg, who didn't want his real name used for fear the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) would punish him for speaking out.

"Teachers are threatened to fist fights after school and students wait in parking lots for teachers," he said. "It really is a cauldron of violence."

• Video of fight between students emerges as London school tries to address racial tensions

According to London police, in the last six months, officers have attended Saunders 28 times for a variety of reasons including assault, theft and property damage.

So much crazy stuff happens. It's kind of dangerous. You just get used to it.- Grade 10 student, Abshiro Halane

Earlier this month, police charged a 16-year-old male student after he broke a number of windows at the school with a metal bar. The incident happened during a regular day of school, where roughly 2,000 students attend.

"This kid is incredibly violent. He's trashed the school six different times," said Greg. "He's been arrested. He's been Tased. Police come in with riot shields."

The student also threatened people with a shard of glass, he said.

"So much crazy stuff happens," said Grade 10 student Abshiro Halane, who witnessed the student smashing windows. "It's kind of dangerous. You just get used to it. People breaking down windows is pretty normal these days."

Abshiro said students are constantly pulling the fire alarm too.

The board isn't doing enough to deal with the problem, which is more far reaching than just one student, said Greg. 

"They're not dealing with the inappropriate student behaviour and as a result ... it appears the kids are running the school and have zero accountability," he said.

"It just becomes this revolving door of shenanigans that is going to lead to something catastrophic in my book." 

This month, teachers attended a staff meeting about the violence where Greg said many of the teachers were in tears.

"We need to somehow bring back suspensions," said Greg. "I know director (Mark) Fisher is very big on no suspensions." 

"As a board, we are committed to reducing the use of suspensions as an automatic response to student misbehaviour," said Dennis Wright, the superintendent of Safe Schools. "Statistics show that some marginalized groups have up to three times the rate of suspension as compared to their peers."

Wright said the school board has a responsibility to address any disproportionate representation and needs to offer suspension alternatives, such as "restorative practices."

"That's why we have the turnaround room," said Greg. "So if you threaten a staff member, or you beat up a trans person or you get into a fist fight ... they're sent to this room to kind of quote, unquote, cool down."

"Some of the most heinous things that go on at Saunders go unsuspended."

Violence spills over to neighbouring mall

At lunch time, hundreds of students stream out of the building, and cross Viscount Road and head into the neighbouring Westmount Mall. London police say officers have attended the mall 55 times since September.

Violence at the mall has worsened in the last two years, said mall property manager April Herlick, who has worked in the building for more than 30 years and transitioned to the manager role during the pandemic.

"I think a lot of it has to do with the two years of COVID that these young kids have experienced." 

Herlick said a fight between students at the mall can draw a large crowd, and it's up to police officers or security officers to disperse them. 

The Saunders population has been growing in recent years, she said.

"It's now very much of a feeder school. So you're getting kids from all over the city. I don't think there's that sense of community the same way there used to be."

Most of children who visit the mall behave well, said Herlick. But they have banned a few students.

Herlick has been working with administrative staff at the school. She said this fall, students will split over different lunch hours, instead of them all heading out at once.

She's hopeful that will help.