A group of students gathered outside the Greater Victoria School District (SD61) building on Monday to protest the district’s inaction after several students came forward saying a teacher was sexually abusing them.
The students lined Boleskine Road with signs calling for action to be taken and the 18-year-old organizer of this protest, Audrey Devine, said all they want is recognition and support.
Devine said that one of their elementary teachers who has since deceased, Scott Clazie, victimized them along with several other girls in his time teaching at Craigflower Elementary School.
Clazie died in 2022 due to pancreatic cancer.
“I was never asked what happened, they brushed it under the rug, he never went to jail, he got to live out his life without being a criminal and without being known as a criminal,” Devine told Victoria Buzz.
“I’ve called the school board so many times, probably around 10 and every time they say, ‘we can’t do much for you, we can’t disclose this information for you’.”
“We’ve got no justice.”
When speaking with Victoria Buzz, the group said they want SD61 to get the message that they are not doing enough for their students. They want their school district to learn from their mistakes and give protection, support and recognition to future students who might be victimized similarly.
“Stuff like this is probably still happening now, like guaranteed.”
Devine is still in school, however due to suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from what happened, they find it difficult to attend classes.
Three years prior to Clazie’s death, his teacher’s certificate was relinquished due to a citation that was issued to him in 2017.
He had been an educator since 1989 and from 2012 to 2015 he was a teacher and a vice-principal at Craigflower Elementary.
In April 2015, he was put on administrative leave for misconduct and that turned into a medical leave of absence in September of the same year.
When the citation was officially served to Clazie, he denied any inappropriate contact or sexual misconduct with students. He also told the BC College of Teachers he did not intend on returning to the school system as a teacher in the future at that time.
Divine and her fellow protesters have since moved their efforts to the front door of the Greater Victoria school board office to try and get some kind of recognition or response.
Victoria Buzz reached out to SD61 for comment on the matter but as of this publication, they have not provided a statement.
 building on Monday to protest the district’s inaction after several students came forward saying a teacher was sexually abusing them. ){kind=link}