At the Open Board Meeting on Tuesday, February 2, the Board of Education for the Cowichan Valley School District announced the formation of the Board’s Ad-Hoc Anti-Racism committee.
The Board is committed to equity among students and staff, and strives to be a model for our community at large. The Board knows that our schools reflect the community we serve and recent world-wide and local events have shone a light on racist attitudes, policies, and practices that still occur within our communities. The Board is committed to providing each of our learners the best opportunity to create a world of their choosing and to ensure each staff member has a place to work that honours them. This commitment was the basis for the Board’s ‘Community of Care’ pledge.
To further that goal and to add action to words, the Board is creating an Ad-Hoc Committee on Anti-Racism.
The purpose of this Ad-Hoc committee will be to:
- Critically examine our own biases, attitudes, beliefs, values and practices to facilitate truth and reconciliation
- Create anti-racism policy for our schools and workplaces that:
- Supports a safe environment for all
- Establishes a mechanism that supports representation of Indigenous, Black, and persons of colour within schools and workplaces for the District
- Create a fair and transparent process when responding to incidents of racism within our schools and workplaces.
- Create a Restorative Justice model for dealing with incidents of racism that is inclusive of community organizations and partner agencies.
More information will be shared with our communities in the coming weeks and months.
The Board is committed to a transparent process and will regularly report to the community on this Ad-Hoc committee.