Dear Editor:
RE: Parents pen public letter alleging ‘Black children in UGDSB are not safe, April 10.
The response by Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) in this article is disappointing.
Director Peter Sovran attacks the parents for voicing their concerns publicly. Although many might agree that having these matters dealt with on media platforms is less than ideal, it’s important to consider that this was not the parent’s first resort. The open letter resulted from inactivity, lack of communication and silence. It was their last resort.
This could have been entirely avoidable if board leadership responded to parent inquiries or made the time to meet them. When providing a public service, it is good practice to meet with that public after all.
It should be noted that the parent group appears to be invested and motivated to support change. These types of parents should be seen as allies, not adversaries. Engaging and partnering with them would only help the UGDSB in these matters.
Instead, we see UGDSB leadership attempt to shout them down and silence their concerns. In the article, UGDSB cites a list of accomplishments to distract from the issue at hand.
Some of the accomplishments that the UGDSB leadership listed are fantastic developments. However, many are secondary-school-centric and broad or non-specific. The parents in the article are identified as being from Rockwood, which only has an elementary school. Are BSUs (Black Student Unions), Africentric programming, and clubs available to all schools within the UGDSB, or just the one school in Guelph?
Are there plans/supports for elementary schools? Are some of these accomplishments really board-driven, or do they happen to be the product of engaged and motivated teaching staff (if they are part of a broad strategy, why do they only seem to be happening locally)?
Regardless, combating anti-Black racism is a very complex problem, but it starts with something that should be simple: have a dialogue. This conflict may have been entirely avoided if the director had met with the public he serves. Instead, he is painting them as a nuisance, which reflects a lack of leadership more than anything else.
The fix to this conflict is still relatively simple: meet with the parents, listen, and be supportive. It isn’t too late.
Derek Cobden,
Guelph