The York School DEI Community Update

DEI Community Update

May 2022

Dear York School Community, For the past two years our school has intentionally focused time, resources and effort on our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) action plan. It has been a collective effort, shaped and shared by students, staff, parents and the Board of Directors.

As the 2021-22 school year draws to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to update you on our progress, highlight some actions, and look ahead to next year and next steps.

Our first action two years ago was to establish a commitment to diversity and inclusion for our community. This can now be found on our website, connected directly to the school’s mission statement. In addition to recognizing that promoting diversity, inclusion and belonging is an active, iterative, and ongoing process, it includes the following action steps:

Review and update our

current mission statement on diversity and inclusivity to ensure it reflects the proactive focus of our commitment to improving.

Partner with local community

diversity leaders to better understand the issues of those directly impacted by racism and discrimination and examine our policies, curriculum and staff diversity training over the coming months to ensure that our anti-oppression stance is reflected throughout.

Review and Update

Commit to hosting conver-

sations about race, gender, sexuality and inequities with students, faculty and staff in assemblies and meetings as well as our homeroom and advisor programs, creating a safe space to share their thoughts, ideas, and feelings.

Led by our four DEI chairs and supported by our REDI (Race Equity Diversity and Inclusion) Committee of staff members, our student council and our student equity committee, our DEI efforts over the past two years have focused on four key areas: our house names, our assemblies, our land acknowledgement and communicating our progress via our quarterly REDI newsletter in the Flash.

our student leaders and staff consultation. The assemblies have been focused on broadening our recognition of the salient issues of the day, including more input from our student leaders.

The school’s land acknowledgement will be updated for the 2022-23 school year and the REDI newsletters have been received with enthusiasm from the community.

As you know, the school has made the decision to move forward with house colours instead of the historical house names for the 2022-23 school year due to the recommendation of this sub-committee, in collaboration with Equity Connections and

As part of our ongoing dedication to school improvement, The York School continuously reviews and refines its curriculum. In the fall of 2020, our staff added a diversity lens and in combination with the CAIS/IB accreditation process, this

has furthered this review and provided a strong framework of reference. The school is committed to continue our ongoing curriculum development and has acknowledged that although our teachers have done a great deal of work in this area, we haven’t done enough to communicate the changes to our students and parents.

following demographic groups: 2SLGBTQIA+, Jewish, Muslim, Black, East Asian, South Asian and persons with (dis)abilities. COVID-19 protocols and time were limiting factors in not including more demographic groups and we look forward to continuing the conversations going forward as part of our commitment to DEI.

Partner

In addition to this work, our school has established a three-year partnership with Equity Connections, experts in the area of diversity and inclusion, who hosted numerous staff professional development sessions throughout the year, met monthly with the DEI Chairs and Head of School and facilitated a parent education session in the Fall. The school has also partnered with Anishinaabe educator, Dr. Pamela Rose Toulouse, from the community of Sagamok First Nation, who is a Visiting Scholar at York University’s Faculty of Education, over the past year to support the school’s curriculum development in the areas of Indigenous education and to support our efforts to update our Land Acknowledgement. These partnerships have enabled us to challenge our thinking, learn together as a community, fostered collaboration with other schools and helped establish goals for ongoing work.

Commit

The school made a commitment to host conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion with all members of our community. This included the establishment of an affinity groups and assemblies where we welcomed community leaders and experts in DEI to talk to our students about actions they could take and how to approach this challenging work, as well as share poetry, books, talks and life experiences. This past January, Equity Connections facilitated volunteer focus groups for 19 of our underrepresented students and 20 staff to better understand their lived experience at The York School. These conversations produced important feedback and findings, reflecting difficult experiences amongst participants and underscoring the imperative need for change. As a school, we recognize many areas for growth to ensure our community and our culture is welcoming to all members. The focus groups comprised students (19) and staff (20) from the

From the focus group feedback, Equity Connections identified three emerging themes: experiencing and witnessing prejudice and discrimination, culture and curriculum, and administrative support and accountability. In the charts below, we have summarized the focus group feedback of students and staff, Equity Connections’ recommendations based on that feedback, and the actions we have taken over the past 2 years.

The school recognizes that the chart below is missing key information such as how many students or staff experienced racism or microaggressions, how often, when and in what context.

The report from our consultants was not detailed with such quantitative findings. The school is sharing the report to honour our commitment to be transparent with the work we are doing on DEI. Additionally, the lived experiences of 38 members of our community who participated in these focus groups are important and should be shared.

Experiencing/Witnessing Prejudice Discrimination Students and Staff Focus Group

Equity Connections Recommendations

The York School Action Plan (est Sept. 2020)

Some students and staff have experienced bullying, harassment and microaggressions.

• Address prejudice, racism and bullying and follow through with appropriate disciplinary actions and support for victims.

The York School has a clear Code of Conduct that highlights policy and procedure around bullying, harassment etc. Our messaging has been “you promote what you permit.”

Our next steps are to develop a shared philosophy around restorative justice and the role of a school in supporting a safe and nurturing culture for all members of our community.

• Ensure physical and emotional safety- gym, change rooms, non-gendered washrooms, multifaith prayer/meditation space.

This summer the school will create gender inclusive washrooms on all floors of the 1320 campus. The school is also in the midst of creating a 10-year in Master Campus Plan to ensure additional spaces that are appropriate and meet the vision for our school.

Students and Staff Focus Feedback

Equity Connections Recommendations:

The York School Action Plan (est Sept. 2020)

Some students and staff have experienced feelings of exclusion.

• Institute deep and consistent approaches to DEI - provide safe spaces, resources, and time for authentic conversations at multiple levels and venues.

The York School has provided PD for faculty on how to facilitate age and stage appropriate discussions.

We will continue to promote safe places in classrooms and advisor groups to address issues around DEI and facilitate education for all.

Change has been observed, including an increased sense of belonging and meaningful conversations taking place at the school in the past 2 years.

• Include and accommodate staff and students in meaningful ways.

This is an area to monitor on an ongoing basis to ensure our students and staff are well supported.

There is a desire to increase diversity and representation across the learned curriculum.

• Implement authentic and inclusive curriculum - in-depth and proactive approaches to address systemic inequities.

The York School is on an ongoing curriculum review cycle as part of its commitment to the IB and school improvement. There is an opportunity to communicate this work more effectively to our stakeholders as part of the CAIS/IB accreditation.

Some students and staff feel the education and discipline could go further to address issues.

There is an opportunity to increase safe spaces (gym change rooms, gender-inclusive washrooms, prayer room etc.)

Culture & Curriculum

Administrative/Leadership Support & Accountability Students and Staff Focus Feedback

Equity Connections Recommendations:

The York School Action Plan (est Sept. 2020)

There is evidence of positive steps towards inclusion in the past 2 years - the work with our equity consultants, the establishment of the DEI chair role and dedicated time at staff meetings and PD days etc.

• Create an in-depth focus on DEI - develop, articulate DEI goals and values, provide timelines for execution and institutionalization.

In the spring of 2021, DEI was established as one of the school’s “North Stars” for the 2023-2030 strategic plan. As we further articulate our strategy, we will add more detail and with input from our student, staff and parent community.

There is a lack of depth and continuity in our DEI work - the bigger issues and root causes are not being addressed yet.

• Provide dedicated resources, e.g. time, space, money, people, full-time diversity position.

During the 2020-21 school year, the school signed a 3-year commitment with our DEI consultants, Equity Connections. We have also established the DEI Chair role to lead this work internally during this time. The school recognizes that this work will take time, effort and commitment to make a real difference in our community.

There remains limited training in DEI and student/staff support - the onus is placed on staff and students to educate, ask for religious and/or accessibility accommodations.

• Support students and staff when they are tackling difficult issues.

See responses above regarding PD for staff and commitment to DEI Chairs and Equity Connections work.

There is a desire for increased diversity, inclusion and representation across the community.

• Ensure diverse representation (staff, students, board) and equitable and inclusive hiring practices.

• Institute policies and procedures related to respectful workplace conduct and dealing with workplace harassment, racism, homophobia, ableism, etc.

This is a key element of the new strategic plan which will be approved by the Board in the winter of 2023 and rolled out to the community later in the fall.

The York Employee Handbook was reviewed and updated in summer 2020 by an outside Human Resources consultant. All staff receive annual PD in DEI. HR identified methods to attract more diverse staff candidates to apply to the school.

As you can see from the focus group feedback, the Equity Connections recommendations and the actions to date by the school, we are moving in the right direction, but acknowledge that there is more work to be completed. However, this is a baseline from which we can start our work, now knowing that some of our community members have experienced and/or witnessed racism, discrimination or oppression. The knowledge of this lived experience only motivates us to double our efforts to make The York School a more welcoming place for all current and future members of our community.

We know this work takes time, and even with a collective effort from the community, there will be bumps along the way. But we, as a school community, are committed to doing the work to ensure the culture of the school is one of belonging for all.

We look forward to providing another update in the fall of 2022.