TDSB 'working to provide' swim test records to police after Algonquin Park drowning
Jeremiah Perry, 15, was required to pass a swim test before the canoe trip, TDSB says
The Toronto District School Board said this week that it will not publicly release details of Jeremiah Perry's swim test record despite lingering questions surrounding the teen's recent drowning death in Algonquin Park.
According to a statement from TDSB director John Malloy, the coroner and Ontario Provincial Police have requested "information surrounding the trip ... including swim test information for Jeremiah."
As a result of the demands from investigators, the board "will not be commenting further on these specific circumstances at this time."
- School board's swim test protocol unclear days after student's death
- Lifeguard was present as teen died in Algonquin Park, says student
Perry, 15, attended C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute in Toronto. He was found dead Tuesday evening, shortly after he slipped and fell into Big Trout Lake during a school-organized canoe trip to the provincial park. At least one other teen on the trip said a lifeguard was on duty when a group of students went swimming.
Earlier this week, TDSB spokesperson Shari Schwartz-Maltz insisted that all students are required to pass a swim test, administered by a certified instructor, before embarking on canoe trips. She could not however say when or where Perry completed the test.
The mother of another student who was on the same trip told CBC Toronto that her daughter does not know how to swim.
Multiple tests involved
While questions remain unanswered, the board echoed its earlier position in its newest statement, released Friday afternoon.
Malloy said the board is "working to provide additional information, including the confirmation of completed swim tests and TDSB excursion safety procedures and measures" to the office of the coroner and police investigators.
"We can confirm however that this excursion required that students pass a canoe trip swim test and canoe trip skills test to participate and that students who were unable to pass the tests were not to go on the trip," he said.
He added that the board is fully co-operating with investigators and believes it's in the public interest to better understand how Perry lost his life on a school trip.