New chair of troubled York school board vows to ‘regain’ public trust
Loralea Carruthers promises a transformation of the board - one that has no place for racism or discrimination.

thestar.com
By Noor Javed and Kristin Rushowy
Dec. 15, 2016

Loralea Carruthers’ first act as chair of the York Region District School Board was to clear the air.

At a board meeting this week, the newly elected trustee chair for East Gwillimbury and Whitchurch-Stouffville, who ousted long-time chair Anna DeBartolo last week, spoke openly about the controversy and turmoil plaguing the province’s third largest school board over the past year and vowed to turn things around.

“I want to be candid: as a board, we have a lot of work to do to regain the public’s trust,” she said in her remarks Tuesday. “Tonight’s meeting needs to be a pivot point away from the problems of the past, so we start the new year resolved to live up to the public’s expectations of us as a board of trustees.”

The Star has written extensively over the past year about controversies at the board, including the director’s unprecedented 10-year contract, repeated and unexplained trustee travel to Europe and numerous complaints of racism and Islamophobia by parents, which led to intervention by Ontario’s education minister who has asked for a response to some of these concerns by Jan. 13.

Carruthers said all of these issues have to be addressed and dealt with directly.

“Hundreds of community leaders, parents and educators have called for change. The Minister of Education herself has expressed her serious concerns,” she said. “I want to be very clear: there is no place for racism or any other form of discrimination in this board, from anyone.

“We have policies around equity and inclusion, and these must be upheld to the highest standard,” she continued. “When we see racism, we must speak up immediately and strongly.”

Carruthers’ comments come just days after the board confirmed it was investigating allegations that a long-time trustee for Georgina, Nancy Elgie, had referred to a black parent with a racial epithet. The board has hired a lawyer to investigate the matter and a report is due back before the new year.

On the issue of trustee expenses, Carruthers said “it is imperative to be transparent and upfront about these costs” and that trustees “need to go through a process to review the rules governing such expenses, with an eye to ensuring we have the appropriate set of rules and controls in place to show our respect for tax dollars and that those rules are being followed consistently.”

She also discussed an ongoing “culture of fear” among staff and trustees.

She referred to a letter written by superintendent of equity Cecil Roach, who said he hired a lawyer before voicing his concerns about how equity was being handled at the board, because he “strongly feared reprisal for speaking out; for doing his job because I have felt the same.”

“I want no one around this table to fear asking the tough questions. That is our job and we must never be afraid of reprisal for doing our job,” she said. “There is no place in this board for petty vendettas, reprisals for speaking up or attempts to create a culture where people are afraid to do the right thing.”

In an interview Wednesday morning, Carruthers said trustees have started working on their response to Education Minister Mitzie Hunter.

“My hope is that trustees discussing the minister’s letter will give us a better understanding of our procedures and the questions that trustees can ask when it comes to personnel issues,” she said. The response will be dealt with at a public board meeting on Jan. 10, and will eventually be made public.

Carruthers’ comments were made at a board meeting where the director of education, J. Philip Parappally, announced organizational changes of senior staff. According to a news release sent out by the board Wednesday, the changes were “a result of recent retirements and implement provincial funding for First Nation, Metis and Inuit education.”

“These changes give us an opportunity to strengthen our work in our board priorities, particularly in the area of equity and inclusivity and ensure that YRDSB continues to be a leader in public education,” said Parappally in the news release.

Carruthers said the changes, which will require co-ordinating superintendents to report to the associate directors and not Parappally directly, came at an inopportune time.

“Myself and the vice-chair did ask in advance about the reorganization, and it was not shared with us,” she said. “We had no input in it.

“My concern, that I expressed to the director, is that we have a lot going on right now, and that this wasn’t the time to be looking at a change like this,” she said. “It is a courtesy, but it is also about working together.”

Carruthers said despite the changes, she has her sights set on moving forward and that her efforts over the past week through meetings with concerned parents and community leaders, show her commitment to change.

“Until recently, our board was known to be the best in Ontario and I believe we can regain that title,” she said, “by working together as a team in a positive way and respecting the diversity of our board, which includes diversity of opinion.”

Charline Grant, a black parent who has filed a human rights complaint against the board for alleged racism directed at her children, says Carruthers’ views on racism are in line with her own.

“The chair will not tolerate racism and neither will we the parents,” said Grant. “We will not stop protecting our children from bigotry and we are still willing and ready to work with YRDSB in coming up with solutions,” she said adding she has yet to hear from the director or senior staff on the matter.