Nearly a month after a student was fatally stabbed at an Etobicoke school, a Toronto board is launching its own investigation into the incident.
Hamid Aminzada, 19, was slashed in the face and stabbed in the abdomen in the hallway of North Albion Collegiate Institute at lunchtime on Sept. 23. Police said he was trying to defuse a fight at the time.
A 17-year-old male suspect has been charged with second-degree murder.
As police investigate the stabbing at the school on Kipling Avenue, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) will work parallel to police to review the facts.
TDSB director of education Donna Quan said a three-person steering team will conduct an independent review surrounding Aminzada’s death.
"School safety is a collective responsibility so the review will hopefully examine what led to the death of this particular student in our school, how we responded," Quan told CTV Toronto Monday.
The investigation will also probe methods to prevent similar deaths and improve support of students and families.
"The review will assist us in understanding the circumstances around this tragic incident to ensure that we continue moving the gains we've made in creating safe and caring school environments," Quan said in a statement.
She also reiterated that the board does not plan on installing metal detectors in the city's schools, saying they would create a "culture of fear" in the classrooms.
"Students must be able to come to school…with a clear mind and a clear heart that they can learn and play and interact safely in a school without going through a metal detector," she told CTV Toronto. "As soon as we move to a metal detector culture, we’ve instilled a culture of fear."
The independent review will be conducted by Kim Derry, president of a security and risk management organization, Sharifa Khan, CEO of a multicultural marketing firm, and Karen Forbes, former TDSB executive superintendent of education.
An interim report will be presented on Nov. 26, and the final report will be published in March 2015.
