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Goldman himself, suffering from the untimely death of his 19-year-old son from brain cancer, took a leave in February before things got “really bad.

“People are not feeling safe working in schools these days,” he said. “It’s disgusting that the board will not step forward and say to teachers, ‘we’ve got your back.'”

He said it’s not just the administration that has turned a “blind eye” to the chaos but their union, too.

The former Israeli army soldier, who fought on the frontlines in the West Bank in the late 1980s, feels the violence he lived with during his time in the military is comparable to what some teachers are dealing with in TDSB schools today.

Goldman said he couldn’t believe it when he heard a kindergarten student scream at her teacher in front of the educational assistant, the vice principal and his entire Grade 5 class: “You f—— bitch, lick my p—-.”

He said the most violent incident occurred last fall when a female Grade teacher was accosted by four students in her classroom, two of whom grabbed her and slashed her across her forearm with an x-acto knife, drawing blood. They also ran the knife across her throat, he said.

Goldman said when the teacher went to the principal’s office, blood dripping from her arm, she was told to “fill out paperwork.

“There were no consequences … this was a physical assault on a teacher and there were no consequences for what happened,” he said, noting the teacher went on leave of absence when she realized the board would not help her.