There are growing concerns about the TCDSB’s failure to tackle systemic racism

BY PAUL JUNOR

Another year has come and gone and the hope and expectation that many Catholic stakeholders had in the largest Catholic school board in the Greater Toronto Area has dissipated. The appointment of Dr Brendan Browne as the Director of the TCDSB on September 1^st, 2020 was greeted with optimism and faith that he would be a visionary educational leader that would fundamentally transform the board.

There have been several mainstream media reports that have highlighted incidents of racism at several Catholic high schools in Toronto. CBC News interviewed three former Notre Dame CSS students in June 2020 regarding their allegations of anti-Black racism. This subsequently led to an apology by the board and a promise to conduct an investigation.

An external firm was hired as a third-party investigator and released a report in April 2021. The TCDSB has not released details of the report to the public, which left many stakeholders wondering why the details were hidden, and if there is a cover-up.

This on-going silence does not forebode well for the board as it looks toward fulfilling its Equity Action Plan, which was part of its Multi-Year Strategic Plan (MYSP). The plan focuses on the years 2018-2021. According to the website: Equity_Action_Plan_March21_2019_ Final.ind, it was,  “A renewal of our promise to ensure equity at all levels of our system as we strive to close the achievement gap, enhance student physical, mental and spiritual well-being and ensure equity of opportunity and outcome for all.”

There was an update regarding the MYSP at its regular board meeting on November 18^th, 2021. It was revealed that the board was on track to launch its new MYSP in January 2022. The update noted that because of the disruptions due to labour sanctions in the 2019-2020 school year and closure of school on March 12^th, 2020 by the Province of Ontario, the “Majority of target specific data from TCDSB surveys and other sources were not available.”

For the 2020-2021 school year, staff had to modify methods in order to ensure that the board was able to make an assessment for each strategic direction. In an email communication with Kirk Mark on December 2^nd, 2021 (a former senior leader at the TCDSB) he stated the board had failed to enact the following:

1.There is a lack of implementation of Year 1 of the 5-Year Implementation Plan to address systemic anti-Black racism as sanctioned by the November 2020, nor has there been any plans to implement the tenets of Year 2, albeit that we are in the month of December 2021

2.There is a lack of implementation of the TCDSB’s Race Relations Committee that was sanctioned by the Board in August under the motion by Trustee Garry Tanum. The RCC was populated with community members, trustees and board staff in April 2021 but to date no meeting has been called, nor is there a plan of action to address systemic anti-Black racism.