‘Do better. Look out for our kids’: parents accuse school board of failing to address bullying at Cambridge school

Parents are standing up for their kids among allegations that a school in Cambridge is rife with bullying. CTV’s Heather Senoran reports.

Parents are demanding change after staging an anti-bullying rally outside a Waterloo Region District School Board school in Cambridge.

They were demanding the board do more to address persistent concerns with bullying at William G. Davis Public School, a facility where approximately 400 Grade 7 and Grade 8 students are supposed to be studying safely.

Dennise Watier was one of the parents who helped organize the rally on Thursday. She claims her Grade 7 son is facing problems.

“He’s been punched in the stomach. He’s been pushed into a locker. He’s been spit on. He’s been in a physical fight. Every day he’s being threatened,” she said.

She is worried for her son’s well-being.

“He’s losing sleep. He’s not eating. He refuses to eat lunch in the lunchroom anymore. He doesn’t want to take a lunch to school. And the principal’s just like, ‘Well, we can have him come to the office to eat lunch.’ But then that singles him out.”

Watier, and a dozen other parents who joined the rally, said the school board needs to step in.

“Do better. Look out for our kids,” she said. “We shouldn’t be here to have to protect our kids. You’re supposed to protect our kids. School’s supposed to be safe.”

The Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) did not comment on Watier’s specific concerns regarding her son, but said the safety and well-being of students is a priority.

“Through progressive discipline and restorative practices, we focus not only on responding to incidents, but on helping students understand the impact of their behaviour and supporting those who have been harmed,” Alison Gaymes-San Vicente, WRDSB’s associate director of student achievement and well-being, said in a statement.

The board said it takes a comprehensive approach to addressing bullying in all its forms.

But Kim Williams, the step-mother of Watier’s son, said the board’s statement isn’t enough.

“It’s a blanket statement, because if they really cared, it wouldn’t have had to come to this,” she said. “We wouldn’t have to be here today. We could have had discussions.”

The school board encourages students to speak up using their website’s anonymous bullying reporting tool. The tool allows users to include text, documents, images or anything else that may be relevant to their concerns.

“I think it’s a joke because they’re not following through with anything that they’re saying at all. Or us. They aren’t taking us seriously either,” Watier said.

Watier and Williams said their son will be switching schools next year for his safety, but the fight for change won’t stop.

“We will be going to the government of Ontario, and we’ll just keep taking it as high as we need to get this resolved, get this fixed,” Watier said.

The school board told CTV News it continues to listen and take action to ensure all WRDSB schools are safe places for students.