Dismantled equity policy at core of York Region board’s erosion
Harmful remarks often went unaddressed, students told in education ministry probe
Board bungling of complaints of racism and dismantling of long-standing equity policy stand at the centre of why the education minister ordered an investigation into the York Region District School Board.
Those investigators determined there is, indeed, cause for concern over those matters.
They found among staff and community members they interviewed a general view that in recent years the board’s “reputation for being at the forefront of equity and inclusion has diminished.”
Among the concerns raised were: the perception that working in equity was seen as a “career-limiting” move; no formal equity or human rights training for staff had been conducted in the last three years; staff was unwilling to address parents’ complaints about racism; and there were concerns about homophobic views held by some trustees.
The investigators said they heard accounts of trustees sharing homophobic jokes and comments, dissuading staff against the creation of Gay Straight Alliances in schools and creating an “environment hostile to recruitment of a senior official who is gay,” which led some staff to feel as though they are working in a “closeted” environment.
Students came forward to share how racist and homophobic remarks are often not addressed. Parents characterized the board’s response to their complaints about anti-black racism and Islamophobia as “hostile, dismissive, arrogant and inappropriate.” Shocking, in a board where visible minorities make up nearly half the students.
“That area of Ontario has grown dramatically in a few short years, and now pretty much all of the growth in the area comes from racialized communities,” said Patrick Case, one of the two investigators who wrote the report. “So too, must the board change in the way that addresses the needs of these communities, so this report and recommendations are intended to give it a boost to come up to date.”
The investigators said both staff and students have expressed a need for leadership on equity training.
“As one community member stated, echoing many others, systemic discrimination has to be proactively addressed, and equity and human rights training needs to be a big piece of the solution,” according to investigators.
In his interview, the board director J. Philip Parappally said he was puzzled about complaints around equity as he had made equity a “foundational practice” of the board.
But the investigators said that, despite this tag line, there was a lack of clarity among the public and staff around what that actually meant, and no meaningful goals or targets set that would show progress in this area.
“We wish to underscore our concerns that the capacity is lacking, not only with respect to proper governance, but equally, if not more importantly, with their understanding of, and responsibility for equity,” the reviewers said in the report.