Safety In Schools

1)REFORM THE EDUCATION ACT

ALL BOARDS to meet with PARSC monthly, invite PARSC to all meetings involving decision making that will impact racialized students and maintain a minimum of two Parent Involvement Committee seats for, and not limited to:

•       Black parents/caregivers

•       Indigenous parents/caregivers

2)DECOLONIZE THE CURRICULUM

ALL BOARDS to audit curricula through an anti-oppression framework and remove books/curricula as advised by Equity Department, add books written by people from equity–seeking communities (in Canada equity seeking groups are defined as Women, Aboriginal Peoples, Persons with Disabilities and Members of Visible Minorities, we extend this definition to include 2SLGBTQ+) about the experiences of BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+ and girls/women’s experiences and the historical context in which they occurred/continue to occur.

3)IMPLEMENT GRADUATION COACHES 

Implement Graduation Coaches, beginning in Grade 6, with coverage for ALL Secondary and Support Feeder Schools.

4)CONDUCT EQUITY AUDITS FOR SCHOOL BOARDS

Conduct an equity audit based in AR/ABR/AO framework on all materials, resources, curriculum, training, policy and procedures.

5)REPLACE POLICE WITH MENTAL HEALTH WORKERS

ALL BOARDS to remove police from all schools and replace them with therapists/counselors with de-escalation and AR/ABR/AO training/expertise.

6)DEVELOP AND MANDATE AR/ABR/AO TRAINING

Develop strategy and policies for ongoing Anti-Racism, Anti-Black Racism, Anti-Oppression Strategy, Policy and training for All Simcoe County Schools.

Each board must create an Equity Department composed of Anti-Oppression experts from culturally relevant outside sources, with lived experience (not teachers or principals).

7)COLLECT RACE-BASED ACHIEVEMENT AND DISCIPLINE DATA

Audit Achievement and Discipline Data. ALL BOARDS to collect race-based achievement and discipline data on all students to identify bias in teachers and support racialized students.

8)PROVIDE FUNDING FOR SYSTEM NAVIGATORS for Equity-Seeking students/parents/faculty

ALL BOARDS to provide funding for a Black-led organization such as PARSC or PoBC to act as System Navigator.

ALL BOARDS to develop a formal reporting process and procedure to report on and respond to incidents of racism, gender-based violence and 2SLGBTQ+-based violence in schools.

ALL BOARDS to provide targeted victims of violence with culturally appropriate therapy/counseling from a BIPOC therapist/counselor.

9)HOLD TEACHERS/STAFF ACCOUNTABLE

ALL BOARDS to involve Equity Department in situations involving race, gender or 2SLGBTQ+-based discrimination and report teachers to the Ontario College of Teachers when an investigation concludes a teacher engaged in racism, gender-based discrimination and/or 2SLGBTQ+ discrimination.

Acts of hatred and violence to be reported for the safety of all students and in order for the offender to be recommended for the proper screening, counselling and rehabilitation back into the school system. Anti-Oppression, Anti-Hate and Anti-Violence training must be part of the rehabilitation process for students and/or faculty who have exhibited these acts.

Students and/or faculty who commit acts of race-based, gender-based or 2SLGBTQ+-based violence or hatred to engage in screening, counseling and the following but not limited to:

•       AR/ABR/AO and gender equity training, must be screened and facilitated by a third party before student/faculty is considered no longer a threat.

10)HIRE STAFF FROM WITHIN EQUITY-SEEKING GROUPS 

ALL BOARDS to implement hiring strategies of diverse staff and educators that clearly state “seeking diverse candidates” on job postings, increase the ratio of teachers from equity-seeking communities (based on targets set with the Equity Department) in every school and collect hiring, promotional, disciplinary and retention data on all staff.