Thursday January 12, 2023
A screen grab from an email sent to families at Dr. Rita Cox – Kina Minogok Public School in October is pictured. The school's principal came under fire for including an ISIS flag in the email, which was meant to mark Somali Heritage Month and Islamic Heritage Month.
The Toronto District School says there was no ill intent meant when the principal at an elementary school in Parkdale included an image of an ISIS flag in a message sent out to hundreds of families.
The image was sent to some 700 families in an email meant to celebrate Somali Heritage Month and Islamic Heritage Month in October.
Parents of students at Dr. Rita Cox – Kina Minogok Public School, near King Street and Jameson Avenue, told CTV News they were shocked by the email sent by Principal Darlene Jones.
Islamic State is listed as a terrorist group by Canada. According to Public Safety Canada, the group aims to sow civil unrest in Iraq and the Levant with the aim of establishing a single, transnational Islamic state based on Sharia Law, replacing the Iraqi and Syrian governments. The group has worked with al-Qaida and has carried out suicide attacks and video-taped beheadings.
Reached by CTV News, Jones said that “any concerns are to be sent to my communications officer.”
In an email to CP24, TDSB Spokesperson Ryan Bird said the inclusion of the image was “a mistake.”
“When the mistake was brought to the Principal’s attention in October, she immediately drafted a correction that was shared with all families, in which she apologized and acknowledged the harmful and offensive image that was originally shared,” Bird said. “There is no reason to believe there was any ill intent and the Principal feels horrible about what happened.”
Jones has been the principal at the school for a year and a half and parents told CTV News that the incident has shaken their confidence in how the school is run.
“If within an inner-city school we can have something like the ISIS flag sent out for Islamic Heritage month, what else (inside the school) is happening?” said May Woo, whose daughter is a student at the school.
Darlene Jones is pictured in this undated image. (Facebook)
The TDSB said Jones was made aware of the error a couple of days after the email was sent and immediately issued an apology.
This isn’t the first time that Dr. Rita Cox – Kina Minogok Public School, previously known as Queen Victoria Junior Public School, has been the subject of controversy.
A January 2020 letter sent to Black and racialized staff prompted a hate crimes investigation, as well as an independent investigation into anti-Black racism at the school.
No charges were laid and the person who sent the letter was never identified.