In a report prepared for consideration by the Board of Trustees, Toronto District School Board staff are recommending a package of four strategies for improving the success of Black students. This report is available for the public’s consideration at the TDSB's Board Services website.
At a special meeting of the Board of Trustees at 6 p.m. on January 29, 2008, Trustees will hear from registered community delegations regarding the contents of the report. Delegations will be heard from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. After hearing from the delegations at this meeting, Trustees will then consider and make decisions about the recommendations of the report.
“The issues affecting achievement among Black students are very diverse and complex,” said Gerry Connelly, Director of Education. “We have a responsibility, as educators, to ensure that all of our students are successful.”
The TDSB is proposing four innovative strategies to engage disaffected youth, including youth of African heritage, ensuring that schools reflect their world through role models, through mentors, through curriculum, and most of all through opportunity. “The Toronto District School Board is committed to success for students of all diversities,” said Connelly. “Working with our communities, we are proposing these strategies so that all Black students can succeed.”
“The central recommendation for an Africentric Alternative school is only one strategy of the Board’s to improve outcomes for Black students,” said John Campbell, Chair of the Board. “It should not be viewed as the sole solution to a problem, but should instead be seen as a response to a community request for action.”