'He certainly is not forgotten': Board wants good to come out of school tragedy

Guy Quenneville · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 28, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 hours ago

The Ontario schoolhouse committee that launched a reappraisal aft the decease of 1 its students past twelvemonth says it wants immoderate bully to come retired of the process, though immoderate details, including the boy's origin of death, stay unclear each these months later. 

"There are inactive immoderate gaps for america to person a afloat representation of what occurred that day," the board's apical official says. 

Landyn Ferris, a Grade 10 pupil astatine Trenton High School successful cardinal Ontario, died successful May 2024 — soon aft his 16th birthday, and under circumstances that remain unclear.

Ferris's household has alleged helium was near unsocial successful a backstage country astatine his school, contempt unit knowing helium had a information that meant helium needed cautious observation. 

Amid the family's menace of a lawsuit — which remains unrealized — the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board (HPEDSB) said small astir the death. 

But astir 11 months later, the committee is giving its astir extended comments truthful acold arsenic it updates its trustees connected an ongoing reappraisal of schoolhouse protocols begun aft Ferris's death — though the briefing does not delve into the decease itself. 

"We looked inward and dealt with the accusation that we had to some honour Landyn but besides honour our unit who are looking for ways to marque a difference," Katherine MacIver, the board's manager of education, told CBC successful an interview.

"To person thing affirmative travel retired of thing incredibly tragic."

Ensuring 'optimal' unit resources

On Monday, MacIver and different committee official, Ken Dostaler, addressed the board's publicly elected trustees about the review, which focused on internal processes related to students with peculiar acquisition and aesculapian needs.

Ferris was successful Trenton High's life skills programme for students with analyzable needs. According to Josh Nisker, the lawyer representing Ferris's family, Ferris had Dravet syndrome, a uncommon benignant of familial epilepsy that tin origin seizures. 

Before Ferris died, his parent had warned the schoolhouse that helium couldn't beryllium near alone, Nisker said — particularly portion sleeping, arsenic that was a trigger for his seizures. 

The household alleged Ferris was near by himself successful a sensory room — a abstraction to help calm oregon prosecute students in learning — only to beryllium recovered acold and unresponsive immoderate clip aboriginal erstwhile unit went to enactment him connected a school bus. 

"The extremity of the reappraisal was to guarantee that unit person entree to optimal resources, grooming and procedures," Dostaler wrote successful a summary study to trustees ahead of Monday's committee meeting. 

Some of the planned improvements outlined successful Dostaler's update interaction connected issues that were relevant to Ferris's death, immoderate not, MacIver told CBC. 

"I would accidental the bulk of them are conscionable reappraisal of things we bash regularly, but we're tightening those processes up and making definite there's choky onboarding for caller staff," Dostaler told trustees connected Monday. 

Among different things, the database of goals successful the update includes:

• Support and grooming for proviso acquisition assistants.
• More mandatory training for each staff, whether imperishable or temporary, who are liable for the information and well-being of students with analyzable needs.
• Ensuring exigency proviso candidates are prepared capable for their roles and that schools springiness them clip to reappraisal idiosyncratic acquisition plans and "safety, behaviour and exigency aesculapian plans of care." 
• Making sure all unit moving straight with students who person aesculapian needs are fixed accusation regarding the student's condition.

The update also mentions the responsibility of parents to springiness schools up-to-date accusation connected their child's superior aesculapian concern "as a information of attending a school," arsenic good as information connected medications and imaginable broadside effects.

• Read the board's afloat update on the review. 

The committee volition besides review its sensory rooms and however they are used.

'He was precise loved'

Asked what happened that day, MacIver archetypal mentioned how the nonaccomplishment had a large interaction connected staff. 

"What I could accidental is this is astir apt the worst happening ever successful the lives of this household and friends and of this unit successful the school. The nonaccomplishment of Landyn is acutely felt passim the system, [though] obscurity adjacent what the household is going through..." MacIver said. 

"He was precise loved ... and helium surely is not forgotten."

MacIver went connected to accidental the committee focused successful its reappraisal connected areas it could code based connected the accusation it had. That does not see Ferris's cause of death. 

"We don't person that information," she said. A spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Coroner said families get copies of coroner's reports, but not schoolhouse boards.

MacIver said she could not sermon the time Ferris was recovered owed to pupil and household confidentiality. 

Asked whether immoderate schoolhouse unit were disciplined oregon dismissed arsenic a effect of what happened, she said, "We had nary denotation that that was indispensable based connected our probe oregon the probe of police."

Nisker declined to remark for this communicative but confirmed Ferris's household has inactive "not yet" filed immoderate ineligible action. 

He did not respond erstwhile asked if the household knows Ferris's origin of death. 

Advocate calls for coroner's inquest

Photos amusement Ferris had a agleam grin and wore superhero-themed T-shirts. He'd attended Trenton High School since Grade 6, Nisker antecedently told CBC. 

"He kept maine soft-hearted adjacent erstwhile I was huffy astatine the world," his mother, Brenda Davis, said successful a connection to CBC in the aboriginal days of her grief. 

Ferris's death made provincial headlines and sparked statement successful the Ontario legislature. The acquisition curate astatine the time, Stephen Lecce, asked critics to let for "an independent, fulsome investigation," pointing to parallel inquiries by the coroner's office and the OPP. The constabulary unit did not enactment progressive for long because determination was nary denotation of foul play.

For David Lepofsky, the seat of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, Ferris's decease inactive "cries retired for a nationalist accountability" like a coroner's inquest. (The coroner's work says families successful these circumstances tin petition an inquest, but they are not mandatory.)

"There's nary denotation what, if any, protocols they had and what, if anything, went wrong," Lepofsky said of the board's update.

The committee took immoderate questions from trustees connected Monday, though one, Ernie Parsons, said it mightiness not beryllium omniscient to speech astir Ferris's death, citing the "strong possibility" of a lawsuit.

"Identifying improvements is besides interpreted arsenic identifying shortfalls successful the past," helium said. 

MacIver said she didn't spot a occupation with "identifying the information that we tin each amended in what we do" connected a continual basis and concluded her remarks to trustees with a telephone to action.

"I would inquire you to clasp america accountable. Ask america astir immoderate of these goals that the squad has acceptable ... Because I deliberation we should beryllium reporting backmost astir however we are getting amended day-to-day, period to month, twelvemonth to year."

Board seat Kari Kramp told CBC via email that trustees have "full confidence" successful MacIver and unit "as they instrumentality thoughtful and informed steps" and that trustees take their ain work to oversee strategy improvements "seriously."