“This school needs solid leadership. Every school needs solid leadership. The lifeblood of the school is the principal,” said TDSB spokeswoman Shari Schwartz-Maltz.
“And that school didn’t have solid leadership for whatever reason.”
Schwartz-Maltz said she could not disclose why the current principal and other staff were absent.  He added that as of Wednesday, there were 13 “unfilled” jobs at the school, located near Keele Street and Rogers Road.
Students affected by the absences, he noted, were sent to the library under supervision or placed in other classes.
Schwartz-Maltz said a group of TDSB officials, including members of the Schools of Occupational Health and Safety and Care & Safe Schools, have been at York Memorial CI in recent days to address “challenges at this school related to a whole bunch of issues.  “
“There’s been a commitment from everyone on the board to create solid leadership,” he said, noting the board has hired a retired director to fill the position on an interim basis.
On Tuesday, CTV Toronto obtained a letter from the acting principal informing parents and guardians that 13 staff members had begun a refusal to work process.
“In this particular situation, there were concerns about the safety of the schools,” Deputy Superintendent Ellen Austrom wrote.
“The school is doing its best to arrange for classes to be covered by other staff and administrators.”
Austrom noted that all students remain safe.  He added that the board is working with the Ministry of Labor to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
Several students at the school told CTV News that there was a fight at the school on Friday and it was one of several incidents that had occurred since the start of the school year.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, TDSB officials confirmed that there was an incident on the corridor last week and that it is under investigation.
“Our Toronto police partners are currently involved in this investigation. Whether this is the reason or the feelings of the staff has not been determined at this time,” said TDSB Director of Schools Kwame Lennon.
While the process of refusing to work began on Tuesday, several employees were already absent the day before.
When asked about placing a private security guard at the school, Lennon said it was a temporary measure.
“We listened to the immediate concerns of our staff. On Monday, we started an emergency staff meeting. And as a result of that emergency staff meeting, this is one of the responses that we implemented immediately to address the concerns raised by staff,” said Lennon.
“We are looking to implement more permanent solutions, such as a school safety monitoring system, in addition to the school safety margin that monitors that we already have.”
This school year marked the merger of students from York Memorial CI and George Harvey Collegiate Institute.
York Memorial CI students were previously housed at the former Scarlett Heights Entrepreneurship Academy in the wake of a six-alarm fire that destroyed their school at Eglinton Avenue West and Keele Street in 2019.
Last year, the TDSB decided to move York Memorial CI students to George Harvey this school year while they await the building’s reconstruction.  As a result of the merger, George Harvey’s students had to adopt the name York Memorial CI.
“It’s never easy to bring together school communities that feel very strongly about their own school community. And we knew it would be challenging, and it remains challenging,” Schwartz-Maltz said.
“It’s a challenge we’re going to meet because we think it’s ultimately going to be amazing when the two- to three-year-olds (from now) — once the construction is done — are in a new school, but there’s always growing pains there.”
He said the board hopes to build a school administration “that will stay and work to change the culture.”
– With files from CTV Toronto’s Allison Hurst