Brent Kennedy Elementary School in Crescent Valley, BC had a "Celebration of the Indigenous" pizza party February 21, where only indigenous children were allowed to participate. Indigenous children were taken into another room where they filled out an "Equity Scan" survey and were given pizza. The non-indigenous children were not allowed to enjoy the pizza. When other parents caught word of the in-school segregation based on race, they decided to rally together, with plans to buy pizza for all students at the school to partake of together, calling it an “inclusive pizza party.”The school-wide pizza party was approved by the principal and planned for April 5. However, Principal Jenn Kooznetsoff then hit parents back with a letter calling off the pizza party, citing its “potential to create division” and the idea “lacked inclusiveness.”.Screenshots from the parents’ reactions circulated on social media, drawing international attention to the exclusion of children based on their bloodline. “Last week, my kids came home and explained to me that there was a “pizza party” for the indigenous kids and that the rest of the kids were not allowed to participate,” one parent said. “The kids explained to me how the other kids felt very left out. It also seemed to create a division in groups of kids who are friends. I'm just wondering if other families were having similar conversations at home.”Someone else said they have two children, one who is indigenous and was allowed to participate and one non-indigenous who was not allowed to participate. “My son is indigenous and participated, but my daughter is not enjoined, but was not allowed to have pizza,” said the parent. “I also thought this was weird. It absolutely does create a division, so sad.”“We need a community not division. We're all the same no matter our skin, religion, race, ethnicity, etc.,” the parent added. .Kooznetsoff originally appeared to approve of the “inclusive pizza party” proposed by parents, as one document shows the principal instructing to hand out paperwork to classrooms, to which a parent responds, “This is great news. I'm arranging it for Friday, April 5 I will get the order sheets tomorrow and distribute them to the teachers Monday, March 11.”The parents notified Dominos Pizza of the large order and planned to deliver pizzas on that day and told the principal she would ask the school secretary “if she wouldn't mind sending out a mass email to all families informing them of a free pizza day on April 5 supplied by parents.”Despite all this, Kooznetsoff sent out a letter shutting the whole operation down. “After further consideration, reflection and discussions with the district school staff and the Parent Advisory Council (PAC),” wrote Kooznetsoff to parents, “a decision has been reached not to proceed with the, “inclusive pizza party” proposal that you and a group of parents have kindly suggested.”“This decision follows a PAC meeting held last night and a staff meeting conducted this morning,” the principal stated. “It is important to note that initiatives proposed by parents should first be directed through the PAC. As this is the established protocol. I acknowledge my oversight in prematurely indicating approval for your proposal.”“The rationale behind this decision stems from concerns raised by both the PAC and school staff regarding the proposal’s potential to create division and convey an endorsement of the viewpoint that the indigenous equity scan day coupled with a pizza celebration lacked inclusiveness,” said Kooznetsoff. “It is essential to clarify that we do not share this perspective.”“I extend my apologies for any inconveniences this decision may cause please understand that we will not be moving forward with the proposed idea at this time.”.Leader of the United Conservative Party of BC John Rustad told the Western Standard "it doesn’t make any sense to me that that’s what our school system would do. I thought we were supposed to be about being inclusive.”“From my perspective, if we are truly focused on reconciliation, reconciliation means bringing people together, reconciliation means understanding each other, reconciliation means removing our differences and being one people, with obviously different backgrounds. Reconciliation is not segregation.”“So if that story is true, it's very disturbing. We should not be doing that. That is not something that should be happening in our schools.”“Children don't see differences. So why would we create them?"The David Eby NDP provincial government did not respond for comment. Neither did Brent Kennedy Elementary School, located in the Kootenays.
