PDSB Trustee Satpaul Singh Johal visited Lougheed Middle School in Brampton

– Satpaul Singh Johal, PDSB Trustee for Brampton’s wards 9-10, visited Lougheed Middle School (LMS) in Brampton and met with Superintendent of Education Neerja Punjabi, Principal Ruth Shelton, and Principal-designate Donna Bhamra, and vice Principal-designate Ms. Singh.

– He heard senior staff, superintendent, and Principal and noted that the school environment has been plagued with drugs (vapes, cannabis products), hate, racial slurs, including the N** word and casteism (ਜੱਟਵਾਦ), and cellphone use by the students.

– Principal said they implemented a ‘no cell phone’ policy in the school in 2018. Cell phones are collected at 9 am and given back to the students at 3 pm.

– Principal added that the cellphone ban was necessary because parents from home/work were not listening to stop disturbing classes by sending text messages during the school day to the children (just to ask how are you!). Classes were distributed when children remained distracted by replying to texts from their parents, social media chats, etc.

– After Countryside Village PS, Lougheed MS is the second school in Brampton’s ward 9, where the principal is concerned about the learning gaps due to the long absenteeism. Ms. Shelton said that parents take their children out of Canada (to Punjab), and they do not return for months. One Lougheed MS student left for India late last year, and he has not returned yet.

– At least 6 students, including a girl, have already been suspended from LMS in this (new) year. Vaping on the school property and uttering discriminatory slurs are the main reason for the suspensions.

– Principal also said that parents would not believe (without proof) the teachers if talked about the mistakes of the children. They would just blindly trust and defend their kids, even if they have done something (seriously) wrong.

– Lougheed MS has started educating (schooling) grandparents to better understand the safe and friendly school environment. The next ‘Chat and Chai’ events in the school will take place on Thursday, March 23.

– I specifically asked the principal if they treat students of South Asian descent differently (discriminate, as some parents say) against black and Caucasian children. They vehemently denied such a hypothesis and said all students (of all descents) are treated equally.

– Principal happily said that most of the parents are happy and thankful for the school management and the staff’s performance.

– They clearly said that some parents just think their own son cannot do anything wrong! They would not stop glorifying and defending the sons even if they are wrong.

– 6 students, including 1 girl for vaping, have already faced suspension from Lougheed MS. The main reasons for suspensions remain vaping (drugs), fighting, and uttering discriminatory language on the school property.

– Principal also told me that middle school children usually get vapes and cannabis products from their elder siblings and cousins. They also showed me a variety of vapes, cannabis candies, and a sharp knife recovered from the children in the school.

– Nothing is free, the principal said, and told that children are sometimes trapped by offering free vapes and drugs, and at some point, they must pay for it with sex. A student was suspended for selling a vape for $40 (regular price $20) in Lougheed MS.

– Parents must check bags and phone chats of their children every day, and multiple times.

– At least 1 incident was reported recently about a student who used a teacher’s picture to open their social media account.

– Principal and vice principal were concerned about those mothers who hide the mistakes of their children and would not let the fathers know about it. To better tackle this behavior of such mothers, the principal has started sharing the incidents with fathers first.

– Satpaul Singh Johal asked them if the catholic schools have fewer issues because they have uniforms. The superintendent of education, principal, and vice principal clearly confirmed that they go through the same, if not bigger, issues than us.

– They also said that incidents continued to happen when SRO (police officer) was in place.

– Principal said that on average 4 parents or sometimes just one parent would show up for the Lougheed MS Parents Council meeting.

– 633 students are enrolled in this school, out of that about 92 percent are from South Asian communities, and from the 92 percent, over 50 percent are from Punjabi families, the principal said.

– Out of 633 Lougheed MS students, 51 kids belong to the black community and 5 are Caucasian (ਗੋਰੇ).

– Lougheed MS has no portables. It has 27 classrooms. 3 classrooms remain empty as there are no students to fill in these rooms.

– The student’s enrollment has gone down from a total of 867 in 2018 to 633 in 2023, the principal told.

– Principal confirmed that they have enough teachers and staff members. They are looking for 2 education Assistants for the special needs students.

– Principal Ruth Shelton will retire on March 24, and vice principal Donna Bhamra will take over as the new principal of this school. Ms. Singh.

– Lougheed MS starts at 9 a.m. and supervision begins at 8.45 am. To help reduce traffic congestion, parents are asked to start bringing their kids from 8.45 am and not to wait until the last minute.