York Region District School Board's new faces bring hope to end ‘clique’ culture

Yorkregion.com
October 25, 2018
Dana Al-Shibeeb

The seven new faces joining the 12-member York Region District School Board (YRDSB) after a slew of controversies including anti-black racism are bringing hope, at least for Charline Grant.

Grant, a proud mother of three, took YRDSB to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal two years ago after she was slammed with a racial slur by an ex-trustee Nancy Elgie following a heated public board meeting in 2016.

Since then, Grant turned to activism, and most importantly campaigned to be a board trustee for Vaughan wards 1 and 2.

While Grant wasn't elected on Monday, she is happy about the results.

“I am hoping that the bully mentality that was there has been removed,” she said, adding that the outcome has created a “dent” in the “the clan, clique,” culture that was going on.

“A lot of people are gone, so hopefully the board can move forward positively.”

While Grant is also “happy” to see previous trustees re-elected, such as Corrie McBain for Richmond Hill wards 1, 2 and 4, and Juanita Nathan for Markham’s wards 7 and 8,  she praised Bob McRoberts, a newcomer, representing Aurora and King. “He has been engaged in the past year and a bit, going to every meeting, he worked very hard, he deserves to be there,” she said. “A person that dedicated will bring balance to the table.”

One of the newly elected, who is bringing more of a sense of diversity to the board, is Elizabeth Sinclair, a former superintendent of education with the Peel District School Board.

Sinclair replaced Linda Aversa for Vaughan’s wards 3 and 4. Aversa was embroiled in a controversy two years ago, over allegedly pressuring senior staff to boost her daughter’s marks to facilitate entry for a competitive university program.

“York Region school board had a very good reputation at one point,” Sinclair said. “So something has happened that we need to review it, and see how we can get it back on track.”

Before specifying her agendas, Sinclair has to review what has been put in place.

“You don’t throw everything with the bath water, there is some good stuff happening in the region, and need to see what’s there and improve it.”

Following the controversies, former education minister Mitzie Hunter issued 22 directives to find the root cause of the thorny issues. What Hunter found in a review is that the board had a "culture of fear" and "systemic discrimination."

On top of that, the board offered its apology after a former elementary school principal in Markham were discovered to be discriminatory against Muslims. The Facebook comments were during her tenure as principal.

“What we as educators, trustees and staff alike want to do is to make sure that children don’t go through those kind of pains, I have been through myself, I grew up in England and so I know what it's like, I have felt it, but there are things we can do to make sure that children never have to feel the pain and the hurt," Sinclair said when commenting on racism. "This is 2018, common, we are one race, the human race."

While the directives include mandatory training for staff, Grant wants to see more being done such as creating a hotline to help victims of not only racism but of any unforeseen and unwanted debacles related to students’ life. 

“People are unaware about the role of the trustees, which is another thing that I would like to see changed,” Grant said. “The current board of trustees must get together and figure out a way to educate the public and the parents about the role of trustees.”

Grant lamented the low voter turnout rate on trustees. “That was disappointing and that’s not true democracy,” she added. “But for me personally, it hasn’t changed, I still have my voice, my influence, and my advocacy.”