The Waterloo Region District School Board is hoping a new department will be the first step toward getting a clearer understanding of support strategies needed to help minority students who are struggling to succeed.
The lead of the public school board's new Indigenous, Equity and Human Rights Department, Peter Rubenschuh, said their work is crucial because – for example, the school board had recently found out through a survey that the makeup of teachers at local public schools is very different than the community they are supposed to represent.
"We're currently doing a student census ... and this was a ministry action that came forward, within two years I believe, all school boards across Ontario will be obligated to collect identity-based data."
He added they've developed an Equity Indigenous Action Plan, which includes four broader areas of focus, including school classroom practices and organizational culture change.
"There are explicit strategies that are assigned to specific departments or collaborative departments. But this is where we really work and we identify who our target audience is in terms of professional development. And then we put metrics in place in terms of both implementation and outcomes we are looking for, for each one of those strategies."
Rubenschuh said it would be an illusion to think equity work will be done in the near future.
"What we know today is so different from what we knew three years ago. As a result of us doing the student census, for example, we'll complete that by the end of the year and then we will analyze the data and draw some connections," he said.
"I can't predict the pace of the change, but I would say there is certainly a very strong commitment to equity and human rights on behalf of the school board."
He said data collected as a part of the student census will be used to get a clear understanding of support strategies needed and to help put an end to problematic policies. This in turn, may bring schools closer to achieving a 100 per cent graduation rate.
