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PEEL DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD 11.1

Regular Meeting of the Board June 19, 2017

We Rise Together Accountability Report

Recommendation:

It is recommended that this report be received.

Prepared by: Poleen Grewal, Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction Support Services

Submitted by: Scott Moreash, Associate Director of Instructional & Equity Support Services

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RtsE together

Peel District • School Board '-"'

June 19, 2017

We Rise Together Accountability Report

We Rise Together: The Peel District School Board Action Plan to Support Block Mole Students was released in October 2016 to Identify, understand, minimize and eliminate the marginalization experienced by Black males ln Peel board schools. Since then, the board held two community forums and its Inaugural leadership conference for Black male students. Work has already begun to integrate the experiences of Black Canadians into the curriculum. Over the past year, board curriculum staff have:

• provided professional development to teacher librarians and classroom teachers to help build a collection of texts that supports Black students, using a critical literacy lens

• built links to race and racialization In high school English courses • worked with elementary schools to develop collaborative inquiries with a focus on social justice as it

applies to the experience of Black students

This report is our action plan for the 2017·18 school year and honours the feedback we received from students, families and the community. The board will host a community event at the HJA Brown Education Centre on September 23, 2017 to share the We Rise Together accountability report and answer questions.

Actions

The year 1 action plan 2017-18 is organized into the four We Rise Together focus areas:

Engage with the community

• Create a We Rise Together advisory council (in September 2017) consisting of Black Peel parents, community members and board representatives who will meet at least four times a year to gather related feedback and advice and provide updates

• Host an annual parent engagement session for Black Peel families led by Black Peel educators, the date and time for which will be established collaboratlvely with the We Rise Together advisory council in fall 2017

Deliver anti-Black racism and bias awareness professlonar development

• Deliver mandatory anti-Black racism and bias awareness professional development training through an external facilitator for Peel's senior administration, Trustees, school administrators, managers and supervisors, curriculum coordinators, instructional coordinators, special education resource teachers, social workers and psychology staff. Training will commence in the fall of 2017 and continue throughout the academic year

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Integrate the experiences of Black Canadians Into curriculum

• Develop the lesson plans and resources with Peel Black educators and community experts to embed the experiences of Black Canadians into the grade 10 mandatory history curriculum and the open course In Grade 11 on Black Studies for implementation In the 2018-2019 school year

• All central instructional coordinators will embed the Black experience and history into their specific curriculum areas through a comprehensive K-12 perspective. This will begin in September 2017 and continue throughout the academic year

• A further development of Black History Month resources and texts by curriculum staff to be shared in all Peel schools. This will begin in September 2017 and continue throughout the year

Inspire Black student leadership and engagement

• Host annual We Rise Together Leadership Conference for Black male students In middle and secondary schools- Conferences will take place over the course of two days in winter 2018

• Host a symposium for Peel educators that are interested in developing Black mentorship programs at the school level and provide a resource kit to schools to organize and develop mentorship programs with Black community leaders for Black male students. This symposium will take place in October 2017

Accountability

One of the most important components of We Rise Together Is accountability. How will the board measure its actions to ensure our Black male students are truly rising? To help measure the impact, Peel trustees approved a plan to conduct a student census, which would include the collection of race-based data, by no later than December 2018. As the student census data will not be ready until early 2019, board staff will work with York University professor Dr. Carl James to measure Black male student achievement through ongoing, In-depth qualitative and quantitative research with students and their schools.

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5650 Hurontario Street Mlsslssauga, ON, Canada LSR 1C6 t 905.890.1010 1.800.668.1146 r 905.890 6747 www peolsc:hools org

June 12, 2017

Dear community partner,

As you know, We Rise Together: The Peel District School Board Action Plan to Support Black Male Students was released in October 2016 to identify, understand, minimize and eliminate the marginalization experienced by Black males in Peel board schools. Since then, the board held two community forums and its inaugural leadership conference for Black male students. Work has already begun to integrate the experiences of Black Canadians Into the curriculum. Over the past year, board curriculum staff have:

Trus tees

• provided professional development to teacher librarians and classroom teachers to help build a collection of texts that supports Black students, using a critical literacy lens

• built links to race and racialization in high school English courses • worked with elementary schools to develop collaborative inquiries with a focus on social justice as it

applies to the experience of Black individuals

In terms of next steps, Peel staff will present the We Rise Together Accountability Report at the Regular Meeting of the Board on Monday, June 19 at 7:30p.m. at the HJA Brown Education Centre located at 5650 Hurontario Street in Mississauga. The report is our action plan for the 2017-18 school year and honours the feedback we received from students, families and the community. While everyone is welcome to attend the board meeting to learn more, the board will host a community event at the HJA Brown Education Centre on September 23, 2017 to share the We Rise Together accountability report and answer questions.

Included within the report is the creation of a We Rise Together advisory council consisting of Black Peel parents, community members and board representatives. Chaired by Principal leslie Grant, the council will meet at least four times a year to receive updates and provide the board with feedback and advice. On behalf of the Peel board, I am writing to invite you to designate a representative from your organization to be a member of the advisory council. Please send the name and contact Information for your organization's representative via email to marie.arruda@peelsb.com no later than September 8, 2017. More information, including meeting dates, will be sent to council members in September.

As you may have heard, I will be retiring from the board effective August 31, 2017. While I am proud that we have begun this work, I can assure you that the board will continue to take action and do what needs to be done to ensure our Black male students can truly rise. The board's incoming director, Peter Joshua, is committed to fostering a climate of academic optimism and mutual respect, built on honesty, transparency and trust. He looks forward to working alongside trustees, staff, students, parents and members of the community to provide critical continuity on We Rise Together.

Sincerely,

r~ Tony Pontes Director of Education

Janel McDougald, Chair Suzanne Nurse, Vice-Chair Carrie Andrews

David Green Sue Lawlon Brad MacDonald Kalhy McDonald Harkirat Singh Rick Williams

Dlror.tor of Education and S~cretary Tony Ponies

Aasoclate Dlroclor, Instructional Support Sorvlcu Stan Cameron Robert Crocker Nokha Dakroub

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Scolt Moreash •

Anoelate Director, Operational Support Sorvlcos Jaspal Gill