Former students at all-girls Catholic high school accuse administration of racism

Some former students at an all-girls Catholic high school in the city’s east end are speaking out, alleging they experienced racism at the hands of the school’s administration.

Sydni Taffe, who is Black, graduated from Notre Dame high school in 2016. She says for the most part it was a good experience until a new principal came to the school in 2013.

“Things kind of just went downhill from there,” Taffe told 680 NEWS. “She definitely had a bias towards Black students.”

In one instance Taffe said she was clowning around in the hallway with other students when the principal approached her.

“She said to me, ‘Sydni you need to tone your voice down, I expect more from you, don’t be like one of them.’ And what she meant by ‘them’ was the other Black students. That was the first really slap in the face kind of racist experience I had with her.”

Flora Nwakobi, who graduated in 2019, also felt she was treated differently as a Black student. “It felt like they were always talking down to me,” she said.

“I would say I experienced micro-aggressions and passive anti-Blackness as a student at Notre Dame.”

Fast-forward to 2020.

The Toronto Catholic District School board is investigating complaints of racism regarding a comment made on social media last fall and how it was handled by the school’s administration.

The comment was posted by a student who attended a Halloween party and made reference to police brutality amongst African Americans in a joking manner.

In a statement the Board said: “We acknowledge that anti-Black racism has devastating effects on individuals, members of our school community and our society. There is no place for anti-Black racism in our schools. As this matter will be undergoing an external investigation, we cannot comment on any details at this time.”