TDSB commits to anti-racism training
Director appears at walkout organized by Black Lives Matter
The director of the Toronto District School Board committed to making anti-racism training mandatory for staff during a “Freedom Day” school walkout event Monday organized by Black Lives Matter Toronto.
The all-day event, held at the York Woods Library theatre near Jane St. and Finch Ave. W., was intended to see teachers and students from across the GTA skip a day of school in protest of what organizers said is anti-Black racism in the education system.
Along with workshops and talks, the event also saw an impromptu appearance by TDSB director of education John Malloy, accompanied by executive superintendent Jim Spyropoulos and several TDSB trustees, who took questions for about 20 minutes from concerned, and at times angry, parents and community members.
“Obviously, we’re here because things aren’t always working . . . We know that there are problems with some of our processes and we know that we have issues of racism and we know that we have antiBlack racism that goes on,” Malloy said.
Among the topics brought up were the disproportionate number of Black students affected by suspensions and academic streaming, as outlined by a York University report last month, the diversity of TDSB management and what’s actively being done to combat racism in schools.
Latin American Education Network co- chair Silvia Argentina Arauz also posed three yes-or-no questions, among them: “Can you have the Toronto District School Board, under your leadership, commit to anti-racism training (and make it) mandatory for all staff?”
“Yes,” Malloy responded, to cheers and applause from attendees.
Malloy also promised to look into how many school resource officers are active within the TDSB and the cost of having them there.
Spyropoulos could be seen taking notes throughout the session. Afterwards, BLM co-founder Sandy Hudson said the conversation with Malloy was productive but that large systemic changes are still needed in school boards across the GTA.
“There shouldn’t be police officers in schools. There shouldn’t be children that are handcuffed in the classroom who are under 7 years old,” Hudson said, referring to an incident in Mississauga when a 6-year-old was handcuffed by Peel police.
“That is the starting of the criminalization of Black people early, telling them that they don’t belong in the system.” The TDSB contacted BLM after hearing about the event and asked if Malloy could attend, Hudson added, which she described as “the right approach.”
“Talking to the community members and listening to us, I wish it didn’t take us doing something like this to get it started, but we’ll see if he’s really serious when we see some commitments to action,” she said.
BLM also issued a list of demands, which include having the TDSB, Toronto Catholic District School Board and Peel District School Boards publicly apologize to children and the families of children who BLM says have experienced abuse or violence from police on school property, taking police officers out of schools and creating community space for Black students who experience racism from school administration and staff.
It’s unclear how many teachers were actually present Monday, although dozens of adults and around 20 school-age children were at the theatre in the early afternoon. Among them was TDSB supply teacher Hawa Sabriye, a former TDSB student herself.
“Because I’m in and out of schools, I hear comments made in the staff room about specific Black children, assumptions about their academic abilities, assumptions about their families,” Sabriye said. “And so as a student and an educator, I’ve seen anti-Black racism for many, many years.”
As an educator now, Sabriye added, she had “not only a duty, but a right to fight for my students.”