Posted: Apr 23, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: April 23
Madison Woodburn, shown in 2020 on the steps of H.B. Beal Secondary School, nearly 10 years after her English teacher secretly filmed her with a spy pen. Woodburn has launched a civil suit against the former teacher and a London, Ont., school board.(Amy Dodge/CBC)
A former London, Ont., high school student has filed a $200,000 civil suit against her ex-teacher and the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB), alleging he caused her psychological and emotional harm after he secretly filmed her chest at school without her knowledge or consent.
Madison Woodburn was one of 27 teenagers who were filmed by Ryan Jarvis while he taught English at H.B. Beal Secondary School between 2010 and 2011. She was 14 and in Grade 9 when he used a camera hidden inside a pen to film parts of her body.
LONDON, ONT. The April Spring Break is officially over, which means tens of thousands of students in London and surrounding areas are set to head back to school, online. For the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) the region’s biggest school board, it means coordinating more than 80,000 students and 10,000 staff. Elementary and high school students are returning to a form of online learning Monday. For many students Monday may be more focused on assignment based independent online learning, but by Tuesday students are expected to spend a significant portion of their day doing real-time learning with their teachers.
MIDDLESEX CENTRE, ONT. The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) is reporting 105 new COVID-19 cases Friday, a slight dip following several record-breaking days. Friday marks the 11th day of triple-digit cases since the beginning of the month. The last similar run happened from Dec. 30-Jan. 16, during which there were 10 days of triple-digit cases. All three of the highest case counts for the pandemic have also happened in the last week, with 163 reported Saturday, a record-breaking 176 on Wednesday and 151 on Thursday. Friday s cases bring the cumulative total to 9,007, with 1,175 active, 7,639 resolved and 193 deaths – none new. The number of variant cases has risen by 73 to 873, with 798 of the B.1.1.7 variant, and two of the P.1 variant – both of which are reportedly travel-related. Another 192 are cases mutation-positive.
Apr 16, 2021 9:00 AM
More than $650 million for school infrastructure upgrades, has been announced by the Ontario and federal governments. The cash will be spent on projects that protect students and staff during the pandemic. Thames Valley District School Board will receive $10,274,000, London District Catholic School Board will receive $6,455,500. The majority of funding will support ventilation projects that improve air quality in classrooms across the province. Some remodeling will be done to make physical distancing easier. Water bottle refilling stations will be installed to improve access to safe drinking water in schools. More money will be invested in broadband to support at-home learning.
LONDON, ONT. The director of the Thames Valley District School Board says it’s a good idea for parents to prepare themselves and their children for a long period of remote learning. “Certainly we’d prefer to bring everyone back together, face-to-face, but the reality is we may be in a remote learning environment up to the end of the school year,” says Mark Fisher. Fisher’s comments come as the delayed spring break is about to conclude. Elementary and high school students will return to online study Monday, after the province announced it would halt in-class learning for at least two weeks following the break.