HWDSB principals and managers say they want action on trustee equity scandal

Groups representing principals and managers in the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) are calling on trustees to hold themselves to the same standard as they do others after four of them were named in an equity probe.

The Hamilton-Wentworth Principals' Council and the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) Managers' Leadership Cabinet both wrote to Manny Figueiredo, HWDSB's director of education and secretary of the board, in advance of Monday's board meeting.

Each letter details efforts the board and the groups have made as a whole to be more equitable and inclusive.

"The steps forward must be brave and purposeful so that real healing can happen," the principals' council wrote in a letter.

The cabinet says the board "must have the courage to act in a manner that demonstrates transparency, humility and accountability."

"The released report asks our trustees to be more purposefully focused on glaring matters of inequity and insensitivity and to engage in education on equity, anti-racism and anti-oppression," the council said in a letter. "We want to work in environments where racialized students and staff are supported and successful, as well as valued and recognized for their individual identities."

"Daily, we hold high professional expectations for ourselves to conduct our affairs with honesty, integrity and fairness ... We think students deserve a board of trustees that have chosen to do better by always keeping the needs of staff and students at the forefront. We ask that we are supported in our administrative roles by holding everyone to the same standard that we strive to hold for ourselves."

The leadership cabinet shared similar sentiments.

"Over the past few years, managers within HWDSB have been asked to reflect on the practices and policies that create inequity and cause harm to individuals ... While we know this can create discomfort for us personally, we know that it is required," the cabinet said in a Feb. 18 letter.

"We are hopeful that our trustees will embrace the commitment made to staff and students at HWDSB of creating an equitable and safe environment for staff and students. We hope this is an opportunity to demonstrate that HWDSB is committed to change and growth, and that this commitment is embodied and modelled by those entrusted with leadership roles. Anything less than this will undermine the efforts toward meaningful change."

COPE Local 343 and 527 also issued a joint letter calling for the immediate resignation of the trustees on Friday afternoon. The 527 represents more than 900 HWDSB educational assistants, child and youth care practitioners, and communication disorders assistants. The local 343 is the largest COPE union, which represents more than 1,600 members.

"The report says it all, these trustees have lost the right to make decisions on behalf of the diverse population they claim to represent," 527 President Susan Lucek said in a statement.

The letters state "we cannot begin to heal our community and work toward the elimination of racism in the Hamilton school board while the trustees who engaged in this behaviour continue to hold their seats."

They also want an uncensored version of the report released to the public.

'Alternative process' in place to probe potential breaches

The letters come after a recent independent investigation named four trustees as lacking an understanding of equity and inclusion. In some cases, investigators said, trustees singled out Ahona Mehdi, who was a 17-year-old student trustee at the time.

Initially, trustees voted not to sanction themselves, and to remove their names from a public report about the findings.  The report referred to Alex Johnstone, Becky Buck, Kathy Archer and Carole Paikin Miller, but only Johnstone declared a conflict of interest. 

Johnstone has since apologized for "the absence of an equity-informed understanding of board policy and governance that created biases and systemic barriers." Through a paralegal, Archer said this month that she respects the findings of the report and believes "there is no further discussion necessary going forward." 

Buck and Paikin Miller haven't publicly responded. 

Last week, trustees voted to reconsider the decision not to look at sanctions. Of the four trustees, Paikin Miller was the only one to vote on that motion.

On Wednesday, trustees voted to use an "alternative process" to look into whether a recent investigation into equity and inclusion revealed that any of them breached their own code of conduct. Johnstone says she declared a conflict of interest at some point during the meeting. It's unclear if the other trustees did.

There are few details about the process because most of the two-hour meeting was in-camera.

The next board of trustee meeting is on Monday at 6:30 p.m.

Read the full report here: