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So, when you're talking about things like stream- ing and punishment and just in general, like mi- croaggressions and all those things, it's trauma- tizing. You carry it with you." In a memo sent to the board earlier this year, the Black Teachers Associa- tion of HCDSB -- which represents educators in Oakville, and across the region -- outlined a set of changes it believes need to be made. James reiterated the points from that memo, in- cluding calls for the forma- tion of advisory commit- tees, changes to hiring practices and retainment, new curriculum support, a policing-free board, and in- tentional, measurable and time specific professional development. The HCDSB confirmed it did receive the memo and its response was to meet with representatives from the Black Teachers Associ- ation of HCDSB to discuss the outlined requests. James said in her dele- gation the lack of action on these measures reflects the depth of the problem. "The delays and lack of action are a gross display of how anti-Black racism is not prioritized in this board. It is a gross display of how blatantly over- looked and undervalued our Black students and Black teachers are in this board. How much longer are we expected to wait for change, to wait until our value is valuable enough for the board to see us and the needs of our students?" said James during her del- egation. In response to James, the HCDSB said in a state- ment it acknowledges the problem of anti-Black rac- ism and has taken a multi- pronged approach that in- cludes professional devel- opment, policy review, da- ta collection, inclusive cur- riculum and establishing mechanisms to respond to incidents of racism and discrimination when they occur. Responding to why the changes have appeared to take so long, the board in- dicated it's a complex prob- lem to address and said progress will occur in in- cremental steps. "Anti-Black racism is a systemic issue that exists in every institution, in- cluding our school district. The work of equity and in- clusion is a system priori- ty, and we are committed to dismantling anti-Black racism in our schools and across the board," reads the statement. The immediate re- sponse to James' delega- tion was a motion by the board of trustees calling for the hiring of a consul- tant to assist staff with es- tablishing a committee, with the ultimate goal of achieving system equity for Black students. Milton trustee Patrick Murphy acknowledged the motion was a small step and an attempt to take on a significant issue. "All journeys have to start with the first step," said Murphy. "If the report comes back and more time is needed, more resources are needed. Whatever the case may be, then that's the opportunity for the board of trustees to have that de- bate and make that deci- sion. The time for sitting on our hands is over." The motion passed with a 4-3 vote. Trustees Janet O'Hearn-Czarnota, Brenda Agnew, Patrick Murphy and Marvin Duarte voted in support. Tim O'Bri- en, Peter DeRosa, and Hel- ena Karabela voted against the motion. Incidents of anti-Black racism are not currently tracked at the HCDSB. However, according to the board, a procedure has been developed that will enable them to track and publish that information starting in the 2022-23 school year. While the hard data on the incidents is not avail- able, James said they have heard from students for years that these incidents are occurring. She also said the students consis- tently say the board re- sponse to these incidents is inadequate. "How are these people healing? How are the stu- dents healing from the trauma they're experienc- ing day in and day out when they don't see anyone in the building that looks like them, when they aren't celebrated the way they should be celebrated, when Black excellence isn't at the forefront?" said James. The HCDSB has recent- ly completed a student and workforce census that will provide a record of identi- ty-based data of the popu- lation. That information is presently being collated and is anticipated to be fi- nalized in December of this year. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: In light of a recent allegation of anti-Black racism at the Halton Cath- olic District School Board, we delved deeper into this important story, examin- ing the details behind the claim and the board's response to it. NEWS LACK OF ACTION TAKEN BY BOARD, SAYS JAMES Continued from front