York board needs action plan on racism, Islamophobia, education minister demands
Letter sent to trustees Tuesday says continuing concerns means Mitzie Hunter wants evidence on what’s being done.

thestar.com
By Kristin Rushowy and Noor Javed
Nov. 22, 2016

Ontario’s education minister is giving the York Region school board two months to come clean on how it handled the investigation into a principal’s anti-Muslim Facebook posts, how it deals with incidents of racism and ending the secrecy around trustees’ travel.

In a strongly worded letter sent to all 12 York Region trustees on Tuesday, Education Minister Mitzie Hunter demanded a plan of action from them - by Jan. 13 - in light of ongoing concerns.

Hunter said she met with the chair and director earlier this month “because of escalating community concerns about transparency and accountability, particularly with respect to board spending on trustees’ international travel, and with the board’s responses to the community about its investigation into Islamophobic Facebook posts by a Markham principal.

“I have also received a growing number of letters and calls for action from individuals and groups who feel there is systemic racism that is not being adequately addressed within the board.”

But after the Nov. 10 meeting, “while there was some acknowledgement...that work needs to be done to regain the community’s trust, I continue to have concerns and, therefore, am making a specific request for information about the current issues and plans for how the board will move forward to address and resolve them.”

Board Chair Anna DeBartolo told the Star via email that she “anticipated receiving a letter” from the minister as a follow-up, and that “as with the previous discussion, we welcome the opportunity to articulate, in writing, all the work we have done to date to address the issues raised and the action plan going forward.

“Our region is one of the most diverse in the country, and we remain committed to equity and creating learning environments that are accepting, safe and welcoming for all students and staff members.”

Over the past year, the Star has detailed a number of alleged incidents of racism against black students, as well as community concerns about how the board dealt with the case of Markham principal Ghada Sadaka, whose public Facebook feed included anti-Muslim postings that she has since acknowledged were discriminatory.

And trustees have taken overseas trips with few details provided to the public about their purpose, including one who travelled to Finland for a third time using public funds, and another who went there for a second time. Then, the director and DeBartolo jetted off to Holland, with trustees and staff saying the trip was kept under wraps.

Markham parent Todd Silverman first filed freedom of information requests in 2012 - DeBartolo was chair at that time, too - uncovering that more than $130,000 was spent on trustee travel to Finland, New Zealand and London. At the time, the education minister intervened and placed a six-month moratorium on their international travel.

“When we the public ask about how are tax dollars are being used, we are roadblocked every way to get the answers,” Silverman said.

He’d like to see an integrity commissioner be appointed to “resolve this whole thing.”

Hunter recently received a letter signed by 141 community members and the Ontario Federation of Labour urging her to investigate a board once considered a model for the province. Staffers have also complained of a growing “culture of fear” within the organization.

“Ontario’s most impressionable young people are watching the adults involved in their education and are looking for assurances that their schools and places of learning are beacons of hope and environments of tolerance and respect,” Hunter wrote to trustees. “Let us never give them reason to think otherwise.”

Amira Elghawaby of the National Council of Canadian Muslims said Hunter is asking the “same questions that community members have been asking for several months” - questions that “reflect the deep malaise that exists among various communities in YRDSB.”

“We hope that the minister’s intervention will lead to an outcome that assures families of the safety, well-being, and inclusion of all students in the York board,” she also said.