BY PAUL JUNOR
The “Black Student Success Strategy: We Rise Together 2.0,” is a companion document that provides guidelines and actions to eliminate anti-black racism from its operations, resources, staffing, and leadership.
The 37-page document highlights the realities of anti-Black racism in PDSB learning and working environments, guiding principles, six areas of focus that will be emphasized during the implementation of the strategy, accountability framework and measures of progress.
The Black Student Success Strategy builds on the work of the board’s former work pertaining to anti-Black racism and expands to address current issues that includes measures of accountability.
Rashmi Swarup, Director of Education for the PDSB states in the introduction,
“There is no denying that we have a lot of work to do. Hearing the personal accounts of trauma and incidents of anti-Black racism Black, African, and Afro-Caribbean students face in Peel cemented my commitment to leading the transformation of our school board towards equity and inclusion for all.
To drive real change we need everyone within our school community to recognize the urgency in moving forward with cultivating learning environments that are free from white supremacy, and to actively engage in anti-racist and anti-oppressive work. The Black Student Success Strategy is a major step toward that change, and we must hold ourselves accountable.”
There were many stakeholders who contributed to the BSSS. Tana Turner of Turner Consulting Group Inc. played an important consultant role. Significant to the design of the strategy was the involvement of the community: Valerie Willaims, Danielle Dowdy, and Alton Brooks of the We Rise Together Advisory Committee, and Paula Hylton, Colin Brown,Tim Vining, and Idris Orughu of Advisory Peel contributed their expertise to the development of the strategy.
This collaboration included four members of the Senior and Administrative Team, which include: Donna Ford, Yonnette Dey, Racquel Walker, and Dr. Camille Logan. In addition, Gail de Peza, Barb Elder, and Irene Pappoe provided administrative support. Trustee Kathy McDonald as well as six PDSB staff members also contributed to this policy.
The strategy carefully outlines the historical context of the struggles for education equity in PDSB starting from 2013 to 2021. The following eight guiding principles are foundational to the development of the strategy which include:
- Anti-Black exists
- The education system is not neutral
- Dismantling anti-Black racism is a collective responsibility
- Dismantling anti-Black racism is an on-going journey
- There is an urgency to act now
- The board will hold itself accountable
- Complying with the human rights is a priority
- System transformation requires community voice
One of the strengths of this innovative and creative strategy is that it has an accountability framework with different stakeholders who are directly responsible for providing feedback annually or quarterly. The timeline for the BSSS extends from 2022-2027. There are actionable items that must be implemented within this 5-year duration.
Dr. Camille Logan, Associate Director of PDSB describes this on-going, “These are the foundational elements to deal with the urgency of change with a focus on anti-racist, anti-oppressive, learning environments, race equity, and the mitigation of racialized student outcomes.”
This newly revised strategy will serve as a crucial document to remind all staff of our moral and legal responsibilities to create and sustain environments free from all forms of racism, racial discrimination, harassment and microaggressions and specifically anti-Black racism.
We are thankful to members of the community that guided the development of this strategy, which incorporates strong accountability measures. We look forward eagerly to its speedy implementation.”
