St. Mike's board breaks silence, says school leadership have their 'full support'

The board of directors at St. Michael’s College School says that it remain “united” in its support for the school’s leadership despite some calls for the principal and president of the institution to resign.

The board responsible for the all-boys private school released a statement on Wednesday afternoon affirming their support for principal, Greg Reeves, and president, Father Jefferson Thompson.

The statement represents the first public comments by the board since multiple allegations of assault and sexual assault by students first surfaced last week.

“Both President Fr. Jefferson Thompson, CSB and Principal Greg Reeves were hired because of their dedication and care for students throughout their careers. That remains the primary focus, and they continue to have the full support of the board for how this situation is being handled,” the statement reads. “They are both men of the highest integrity and continue to have our trust to lead us forward.

In its statement, the board describes the incidents that have allegedly taken place at St. Michael’s College School as “offensive to everything we stand for and to the values we strive to instill in our students.”

In the statement, the board members say that their first priority “remains on the victims” but they do go on to offer support for both Reeves and Thompson, who they say continue to have the “overwhelming support” of alumni.

That suggestion comes in the wake of one alumnus telling CP24 that both Reeves and Thompson should resign.

Dave Trafford, who graduated from the all-boys private school in 1979, made the comment to CP24 during a one-on-one interview on Wednesday morning.

He said that it is his belief that both Reeves and Thompson, must resign amid what he referred to as a “failure of leadership” in responding to the allegations.

“I am not sure that, given the way this has unfolded, we can move forward as quickly and positively as we want to with them in leadership roles,” he said.

About 600 alumni attended special meeting

Trafford was among an estimated 600 alumni of the school who attended a closed-door meeting to discuss the scandal on Tuesday night.

He said that during the meeting there was “unvarnished criticism” and “difficult questions” directed at some school officials, including calls from some alumni for resignations to be tendered.

Reeves, in particular, has faced criticism for failing to notify police about a video depicting an alleged sexual assault after first learning of its existence on Nov. 12. Police say they only became aware of the video on Nov. 14, after receiving questions about its existence from media outlets.

A subsequent police investigation led to the arrests of six students in connection with the incident. They were each charged with sexual assault, gang sexual assault and sexual assault with a weapon. The identities of the students are protected under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. None of the allegations has been tested in court.

Reeves previously told CP24 that the delay in disclosing the video to police was to allow him to conduct his own internal investigation and begin expelling students, but some have questioned that decision, including Toronto police Insp. Domenic Sinopoli, the head of the sex crimes unit, who has said that it should have been immediately reported.

Reeves did address alumni on Tuesday night, though Trafford did not comment on what he said, citing the private nature of the meeting.

“I think Greg Reeves’ handling of the situation as far as the victims are concerned is laudable. I would not question his intentions there, I think he has the boys’ interest first and foremost in his mind. The challenge I have is how it was handled and I will tell you that I did stand up and address the meeting,” Trafford told CP24. “That was a room full of leaders and what we expected from the school is leadership and quite frankly what we have seen is a failure of leadership. We need to reset that leadership.”

Police are now investigating a total of six incidents related to St. Michael’s College School, including two alleged sexual assaults.

Amid the ongoing investigations, St. Michael’s College School has cancelled its mid-year assessments that were scheduled for December and put all extracurricular activities on hold for the rest of 2018.

Tafford said that one of the purposes of Tuesday night’s meeting was to ask the schools’ network of alumni for help in providing leadership during what has become a very difficult time for the wider school community.

“They cancelled the exams at Christmas and they are going to use that time to invite St. Mike’s alumni, who may have expertise in psychology or crisis counselling, to come in and just have a sit down and talk to them (students),” Trafford said. “I think there is a real role for the alumni to play there.”

Dave Trafford is a contributor to NEWSTALK 1010, which is a division of Bell Media, CTV News Toronto’s parent company.