Toronto teacher put on home assignment after vaccine mandates compared to yellow stars worn in Holocaust
![TDSB TDSB](/content/dam/cp24/en/images/2020/12/16/tdsb-1-5234963-1627400320071.jpg)
A Toronto District School Board (TDSB) teacher has been put on home assignment after allegedly comparing COVID-19 vaccine mandates to the yellow star of David that Jews were forced to wear as identifiers during the Holocaust.
The incident was described in a letter sent home Tuesday to parents and guardians of students at Ledbury Park Elementary and Middle School, near Bathurst Street and Lawrence Avenue in North York.
“We are writing to inform you about an antisemitic incident that occurred last week, which your child may have witnessed or heard about,” Interim Principal Serge Parravano wrote in a letter describing the incident.
He went on to say that the teacher has been removed from the classroom and is now on home assignment pending an investigation.
Parravano called the incident “very upsetting and unacceptable” and said that it is “not reflective of who we are and what we stand for as a school and as a community.”
“On behalf of Ledbury Park Elementary and Middle School, we acknowledge and regret the harm this incident caused to members of our school community and to our shared school climate,” he wrote. “We are committed to the work of intentionally identifying, interrupting, and addressing racism and discrimination in our school, with a focus on antisemitism.”
The yellow star of David was a symbol Jews were forced to wear in Nazi Germany, based on their religious and ethnic identity, as part of a project to dehumanize and eventually murder them.
By contrast, vaccine mandates have been implemented by governments around the world, on the advice of public health experts, as a way to help curb the spread of the highly infectious and potentially deadly COVID-19 virus from person to person.
Protests against vaccine mandates have increasingly appropriated Holocaust imagery, a move that has been denounced by Jewish groups and Holocaust educators as deeply offensive, misguided and as a trivialization of the genocide.
The school said that it will be working with students to address the matter, including having the daughter of a holocaust survivor come in to share her family’s personal history with students.
News of the incident comes the same day the TDSB reported that it was dealing with two new antisemitic incidents at its schools.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6955136.1720438921!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Alice Munro's daughter sees outpouring of messages after essay on mother's silence to her sexual abuse
Social media saw a flood of messages for Andrea Robin Skinner, daughter of late Canadian author Alice Munro, after an eye-opening personal essay about her sexual abuse by her stepfather published this weekend.
Bombs found planted in rural Sask. mailboxes: RCMP
Officers from the Saskatoon RCMP detachment say they believe someone is leaving bombs in rural mailboxes.
Ex-Quebec junior hockey players jailed for sexual assault of teen at hotel in 2021
Two former Quebec junior hockey players have been handed jail sentences for sexually assaulting a minor at a hotel in June 2021 in the aftermath of a Victoriaville Tigres championship celebration.
The most devastating sleep disorder of all, according to an expert
Jill was in middle school when she began eating in her sleep. Despite carrying the food back to her bed to devour night after night, she didn’t have a clue about what she had done until the next morning.
Parkinson's specialist met with Biden's physician at the White House earlier this year, records show
A top Parkinson’s disease specialist held a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden’s physician at the White House earlier this year, according to records.
Barcelona anti-tourism protesters fire water pistols at visitors
Protesters in Barcelona have sprayed visitors with water as part of a demonstration against mass tourism.
Actor known for roles on 'Bob's Burgers' and 'Arrested Development' pleads guilty over role in Capitol Attack
Jay Johnston, known for his roles on 'Bob's Burgers' and 'Arrested Development,' pleaded guilty Monday over his involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol Attack.
Liberal government hopes changes to dental care program will increase uptake
Less than one year after federal Liberals announced a new dental care program to mixed reviews, the government is making changes in hopes to get more providers on board.
How Canada's dream supersonic bomber became a national nightmare
The Avro Arrow meant to be one of the most advanced aircraft of its era, dispatching the threat of Soviet nuclear bombers and making Canada a world leader in military aviation and engineering.