The Hastings Prince Edward District School Board needs to take a strong, brave stand and do something uncomfortable to address a growing concern.
That was the message sent at the Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday afternoon by Trustee Alison Kelly.
She asked to have a policy put in place that makes the statement that they as a school board will not stand for racism in their schools.
The issue stems from when a Prince Edward Collegiate student, Talia Epstein, wrote about the racist comments she has dealt with at school and in the community and Kelly said it needs to be dealt with. You can find her op-ed piece from the Wellington Times here.
Superintendent of Student Services Ken Dostaler said they’ve come a long way in recent years, but absolutely agrees more needs to be done.
He says their Code of Conduct addresses the issue and a new procedure also supports the anti-racist culture they are looking to have at their schools.
Dostaler also said they’ve gone from a three page document on equity and creating an anti-racist culture to a 21 page document.
Trustees and senior staff around the table agreed it is an important issue and passed a motion to work on a policy regarding racism in schools that is reinforced by the procedures set to soon be in place.
The policy approval will come at a future meeting.
