Committee of the Whole: June 4, 2024
The Committee of the Whole meeting for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board took place on June 4, 2024 with me as chair. Staff brought forward one report for discussion.
Staff brought forward draft Report 24-087 on the 2024 to 2028 Indigenous, Equity, and Human Rights Roadmap for discussion. This new roadmap builds on the work from the 2020 to 2023 Indigenous, Equity, and Human Rights Roadmap and seeks to continue to address the necessary systemic shifts needed to reduce and eliminate disparities for students and staff who identify as members of unserved communities. The six focus areas of securing accountability, importance of identity, building staff awareness and capacity, increasing representation, programming and supports for students, and engagement and connectedness will be carried from the 2020 to 2023 roadmap to the 2024 to 2028 roadmap. The overall goal of the roadmap is to center the voices and lived experiences of students, staff, and families who have been underserved within the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. By centering these voices, and creating a safer school community for students, staff and families, we hope to see a decrease in the disproportionality in suspension rates, engagement, achievement and belonging for students who are multilingual learners and those who identify as members of Indigenous, Black, Middle Eastern, 2SLGBTQ+ and neurodiverse communities. During the discussion, I asked the following questions (timestamp 1:27:09):
Question: I think there is a good middle ground for measurements because at the end of the day, the way that we are going to be able to advocate for more funding to really help all the issues that we are not only seeing in our schools but really do make a difference in our students lives is through measurement and that is how we can advocate for more funding so we can help with your work. If we are thinking about a measurement framework, when can we expect to see this, or have you put some thought into what might be on it?
Answer: We are building that as we go along, and we are waiting for 2024 data. We are working with alignment with the release of the 2024 data.
Question: For the measurement framework, have you put any thought on what you might be measuring that is more quantified like a 90% graduation rate?
Answer: We have not landed on any of the numbers yet. Right now, we do not have comparable data in some areas. We need to look at the variables that affect the data. Departments will also have their operational plans that tie into this report. We are hoping this is a direction setting.
Please note, that the opinions expressed here are entirely my own and do not reflect an official position of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board or the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board of Trustees. Please note answers from staff are paraphrased, the recording can be found here if you would like to watch the entire meeting. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me using my contact form here.
Key links
Video for the Committee of the Whole on June 4, 2024
Agenda for the Committee of the Whole on June 4, 2024
Report 24-087, DRAFT, 2024 to 2028 Indigenous, Equity, and Human Rights Roadmap
