Blistering report puts York board on notice
Act swiftly to deal with ‘deeply concerning’ findings or face intervention, review urges
York trustees and the director of education are “far from strong and ethical” leaders and the two reviewers sent in to probe the troubled school board were so appalled by the response to racist and Islamophobic incidents that they felt “compelled to denounce” the lack of action.
In a damning report released Tuesday, Patrick Case and Sue Herbert urged that only a short period of time be given to elected officials and senior staff to fix such severe problems — ranging from questionable travel by trustees and administrators to a “disturbing lack of accountability,” to a culture of fear among staff, and the deep mistrust felt by parents — before Education Minister Mitzie Hunter takes more drastic steps.
And Hunter agreed — issuing 22 direc- tives, some with quick deadlines, including a full performance review of the York Region District School Board’s controversial director and ordering trustees to renegotiate his unprecedented 10-year contract that also has a “job-for-life” clause.
If trustees and the director fail to act, Hunter warned she will send in an inves- tigator — one step away from the province taking over the board.
“The findings in the report are deeply concerning,” Hunter told the Star in an interview.
“It speaks very much to a feeling of alienation, marginalization and discrimination by individuals, as a result of the responses from members of the board to the concerns that were raised by the community.”
Hunter called for an “expedited review” of the board 10 weeks ago after growing community outrage over its mishandling of complaints of racism and trustee conduct, as reported by the Star in dozens of stories over the past year.
While parents applauded Hunter for swift action, they put little faith in the board or the director.
“This is the culmination of years of just asking people to care,” said Shernett Martin of the Vaughan African Canadian Association. “Minister Hunter took our calls . . . Our words are in the recommendations.”
However, she added “we know (the board is) not going to comply; we already see failure ahead. So we’re hoping the next step is bringing in a supervisor, and bringing in a new director.”
“All along, we were asking people to be human,” added Charline Grant, who has launched human rights complaints against the board, and who is the parent a trustee referred to using a racial slur. “We are all parents, and we all fight for our children. And no matter how hard that fight is, you fight. When your children hurt, you hurt.”
The report says trustees are “consumed by infighting,” and that some staff who spoke to the reviewers cried, were fearful of reprisals and said the director had asked top administrators to “spy on other members of the senior team” — including secretly videotaping a meeting.
Case and Herbert also heard a number of stories about trustees making homophobic jokes and comments, discouraging gay-straight alliance groups — which violates provincial directives — and that equity was such a low priority that staff working in the area called it “career limiting.”
As for travel, trustees were clueless as to why the public was concerned about their trips abroad and those of senior staff, some repeatedly visiting the same countries, the reviewers note.
A written statement from board chair Loralea Carruthers just before the report was released publicly said trustees take issue with some “significant errors” in the report, but “we have immediately begun discussions on how to implement some of the report’s key recommendations.
“Message received, loud and clear,” she also wrote.
Director J. Philip Parappally, who staff and parents believe to be the root of much of the board’s troubles, issued a statement online saying he had to “review” it thoroughly and that “it’s important that we continue the work we do each and every day in focusing on our top priority, which is advancing student achievement and well-being.”
But at Queen’s Park, Progressive Conservative MPP Sylvia Jones (Dufferin-Caledon) accused the government of standing by idly “while allowing a toxic culture to fester.” Trustees, she added, “used the board as a taxpayer-funded travel agent — they jet-setted across Europe with no regard for public funds.” They need to repay for “inappropriate junkets” — and if they refuse, she said, they should resign.
Hunter has announced she is immediately banning all international travel by trustees and staff, and expects the board to take about a year to complete all of her recommendations.
However, she said, “if I have further concerns about their ability to comply — and there will be regular checkins as well as we move through — then I will move to appoint an investigator.”
The reviewers said the board appears unwilling to address issues of equity, noting how trustees all but ignored a number of high-profile racist incidents, including when then-trustee Nancy Elgie referred to a black parent using the N-word.
While trustees wouldn’t launch a code of conduct complaint against Elgie, it says, they had no trouble doing so for another trustee who used the term “white privilege” — forcing that trustee to apologize.
Trustees have a role in ensuring the board is a welcoming place, Case told reporters at Queen’s Park, but there were two incidents where “the board could have immediately come out and said something, and didn’t.”
Herbert and Case told reporters the board will likely need help in order to change, but, Herbert added, “we have doubts about their ability to move forward.”
The report highlights Parappally’s behaviour, saying his actions fostered a climate of mistrust and that after three years on the job — and despite the controversy around his hiring and early tenure — “a skilled leader would have risen above these difficulties.”
Hunter wants an independent appraisal of his performance completed by the end of May.
And for a growing, diverse board where English is not the first language of about half of students, it is “particularly important to have ethical leadership that truly values inclusivity and demonstrates a commitment to seeking equality of outcomes for all its students,” the reviewers said, something that didn’t happen in York.
The reviewers also “found the lack of concerns over the public reaction to (trustee) travel expenditures quite astounding.”
They recommended that all trips be approved at board meetings, and that no costs be reimbursed until a full briefing has been given on the educational value of the travel, at a public meeting and posted to the board’s website.
“We have to get this board on track,” Hunter told the Star.