York region school board doing everything it can to tackle racism, chair says

York Region District School Board chair Loralea Carruthers says the board is doing everything it can to address claims of racism and Islamophobia in schools.

In November, the province told the board itneeded to come up with a plan to address the issuesafter a parent filed a formal complaint accusingan elementary school principal ofsharing Islamophobic posts online.

• Education minister demands 'detailed' response from York board to racism, Islamophobia allegations

This week, YRDSBshared a letter in response to the province, outlining the board`splans to address the problems.

"We've been in an ongoing dialogue with parents to find out what is the basis of their concerns," said Carruthers in an interview on Metro Morning Friday.

'Recent problem'

Carruthers says these are new problems for the board.

"Our board has long-been a model board across the province," said Carruthers.

"On any assessments in any area across the province we get top marks ...This is a recent problem, this isn't something that's long-standing," she said.

"We've had policies in place for years that have been working wonderfully and suddenlythingshavegoneoff the rails."

Parents unhappy with response

Parents call the York Region District School Board's plan to deal with racism insulting.

All we want is for our children to be in a school system where they feel safe," said parentCharlineGrant.

• Parents say York Region school board has no plan to deal with allegations of systemic racism

"If the director takes the importance of equity and racism andIslamophobiavery seriously that will trickle down even to the students."

Grant and her husband, Garth Bobb,have three children who attend schools within the board and saythey have filed dozens of complaints outlining instances when their oldest son was the target of anti-black racism. One of those complaints was about ateacher who allegedly toldGrant's son's classmates, who were all Caucasian, to check their bags to ensure that the teen had not stolen anything.

Still,Carrutherssaid it's important that parents support the board as they implement a plan to address racism in York Region schools.

"We need public confidence," she said.