The Board of Education for the Cowichan Valley School District has announced the formation of an ad-hoc anti-racism committee.
The board is committed to equity among students and staff, and strives to be a model for the community at large. The board knows that schools reflect the community served and recent world and local events have shone a light on racist attitudes, policies and practices that still occur.
The board is committed to providing students with the best opportunity to create a world of their choosing and to ensure each staff member has a place to work that honours them. This commitment was the basis for the board’s ‘Community of Care’ pledge.
To further that goal and to add action to words, the board’s ad-hoc committee on anti-racism was formed with the following purposes:
• Critically examine our own biases, attitudes, beliefs values and practices to facilitate truth and reconciliation.
• Create anti-racism policy for schools and workplaces that supports a safe environment for all and establishes a mechanism that supports representation of Indigenous, black and other persons of colour within schools and workplaces for the district.
• Create a fair and transparent process when responding to incidents of racism within schools and workplaces.
• Create a restorative justice model for dealing with incidents of racism that is inclusive of community organizations and partner agencies.
More information will be shared with communities in the coming weeks and months.