York school board understands ‘work to be done,’ education minister says

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 15, 2016
By Kristin Rushowy

The York Region school board has work to do when it comes to dealing with complaints of racism and Islamophobia, as well as issues of transparency around trustee travel, Education Minister Mitzie Hunter said after taking the rare step of meeting with top officials there.

Hunter told the Toronto Star her meeting last Thursday with the director and chair “focused on some of the matters that were raised” by concerned parents and community members and even board staff and elected officials.

“For me, it’s very important - I take very seriously any student that does not feel safe in our schools for any reason. I’d heard those concerns, and I wanted to ensure that the board was carrying out appropriate responses.”

She called the meeting an “initial conversation that we had around the issues; I’m satisfied that we have a common understanding that more work needs to be done when it comes to transparency, when it comes to ensuring that equity and inclusion” are an important part of what the York Region District School Board does.

Hunter met with director of education J. Philip Parappally and chair Anna DeBartolo after numerous Star stories over the past year detailed how the board handled incidents of racism as well as questionable Facebook postings about Muslims by a Markham elementary school principal.

“While we won’t go into details, our board always welcomes the opportunity to have a conversation with the minister,” board spokesperson Licinio Miguelo said via email Monday.

The principal, Ghada Sadaka, issued a public apology the same day Hunter met with board officials. Posted on the director’s page, Sadaka acknowledged “sharing inappropriate posts on social media” that were discriminatory and promised to create an “open and inclusive” school community.

Parappally wrote that the board should use the incident “as an opportunity to learn and grow.”

The Star has also reported on overseas trips taken by trustees with few details provided to the board. Two trustees travelled to Finland on the taxpayers’ dime for a second and even a third time, with no clear purpose. Then, Parappally and DeBartolo jetted off to Holland, a trip board insiders say was kept under wraps.

A recent letter signed by 141 community members as well as the Ontario Federation of Labour urged Hunter to probe what’s going on at the board, once considered the model board in the province.

The letter also mentions what a number of York staffers have told the Star, about a growing “culture of fear” within the board ranks.