{"id":16436,"date":"2017-02-01T17:49:01","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T22:49:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=16436"},"modified":"2017-02-01T18:00:34","modified_gmt":"2017-02-01T23:00:34","slug":"under-fire-york-region-district-school-board-placed-under-provincial-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/under-fire-york-region-district-school-board-placed-under-provincial-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Under fire, York Region District School Board placed under Provincial review"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir
\n<\/strong>
\nAmid allegations of systemic racism, along with problems over equity and accountability, the Province of Ontario has stepped in to review the York Region District School Board (YRDSB).
\nIn a statement Thursday announcing individuals appointed to review the YRDSB, Ontario Education Minister Mitzie Hunter called the matter an \u201curgent\u201d one.
\n\u201cThere have been significant and growing concerns from parents and community members regarding governance and equity issues in the York Region District School Board,\u201d said the Minister. \u201cThese include allegations of systemic racism, concerns about the Board\u2019s equity and inclusive education policies, accountability for spending on trustees\u2019 international travel, and deteriorating relationships between the trustees, the director of education and the Board\u2019s senior staff.
\n\u201cIn November, I met with the Board chair and director of education to discuss these concerns. During that meeting, I was not provided with the reassurance that the Board had an adequate plan in place to deal with these issues, so I asked the Board to submit a report outlining their plan of action by January 13. Unfortunately, their proposal also fails to address these issues.
\n\u201cAs a result, an urgent review of the Board is needed. I am appointing Patrick Case and Sue Herbert to review the governance and performance issues at the YRDSB. The reviewers will recommend improvements, particularly regarding equity, accountability and transparency, to regain public confidence in the school Board. In addition, they will recommend ways to improve the working relationships at the Board, including amongst trustees, between the Board and the director of education, between the director of education and senior staff, and with the community. In addition, they will review whether Board members and the director of education are fulfilling their legislated duties.\u201d
\nPhilip Parappally, the YRDSB\u2019s beleaguered Director of Education, set out a letter to York Region parents that afternoon.
\nIn his message, he said the YRDSB \u201cremains committed\u201d to providing students with \u201csafe, welcoming inclusive learning.\u201d
\n\u201cThese are critical issues and we welcome this opportunity to work with the reviewers in an open and transparent manner,\u201d he said. \u201cThis review will foster a common understanding of how we need to move forward with our community, the Board and staff members alike. I will ensure that all staff members cooperate fully throughout this important review.
\n\u201cI want to assure you that we take these issues very seriously, and will not shy away from the difficult conversations and the important work that lies ahead to address these concerns. Our Board has long had a reputation for excellence and I want to acknowledge the good work that continues to take place in our schools and workplaces to advance student achievement and well-being.
\n\u201cWe remain committed to providing our students and staff with safe, welcoming and inclusive learning and working environments that enable all of our students and staff to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amid allegations of systemic racism, along with problems over equity and accountability, the Province of Ontario has stepped in to review the York Region District School Board (YRDSB).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-4h6","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-14 15:04:25","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16436\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}