Toronto’s school board votes on a new antisemitism report today. Here’s what’s at stake

Since 2023, the Toronto District School Board has been working on an updated strategy to combat several categories of hate and racism in its nearly 600 schools. The update will cover hatred against more than a half dozen minority communities, including Black, Asian, Trans, Indigenous, and Jewish-but when the board suddenly added anti-Palestinian racism to the list last summer, hundreds of Jewish community members including Jewish parents, students and staff have slammed the school board for ignoring rampant Jew-hatred since Oct. 7 in classrooms, halls and field trips. Now, after consulting with 125 Jewish students and with members from 35 diverse Jewish community groups, the authors of a new report—”Affirming Jewish Identities and Addressing Antisemitism”—are tabling it in front of a committee of school board trustees on the evening of Feb. 12. The trustees are being asked to receive the report, after which send it along to the entire board for approval the following week. The report includes many suggestions, such as beefing up training about Jews beyond Holocaust education; making sure Jews are part of diversity, equity and inclusion work; recognizing anti-Zionism as a new form of antisemitism; and hiring more Jewish professionals for senior management positions. While some Jewish leaders are praising the report, others feel the whole concept is flawed by the board’s focus on identity, and want geopolitics removed from schools entirely. On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, we’re joined by Shelley Laskin, a trustee representing the heavily Jewish neighbourhood of Eglinton-Lawrence-St. Paul’s, who calls the meeting a historic moment for the school board; and also by Tamara Gottlieb, co-founder of the Jewish Educators and Families Association (JEFA), who has serious reservations about the report.

Related links

• Read the proposed Toronto District School Board antisemitism policy documents and the detailed report being presented Wednesday Feb. 12, 2025.
• Learn more about the controversy that erupted last summer over proposed anti-racism strategies at the Toronto District School Board since Oct. 7, in The CJN.
• Hear how Jewish students at Toronto District School Board schools have experienced antisemitism and anti-Israel hate after Oct. 7, in The CJN.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

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