What Will An Afrocentric School Be Like?

Posted January 30, 2008 12:00 pm.

This article is more than 5 years old.

It took more than two hours of bickering, arguing and passionate feelings. But in the end, the Toronto District School Board narrowly voted in favour of approving the idea of a black-focused school in the city.

A meeting that featured increased security and raised voices both pro and con filled the Board’s meeting room near Yonge and Sheppard Tuesday, as both sides tried to make their point. When it was over, the vote was taken. And it was close, but it was final – 11 trustees favoured the idea while 9 opposed it. ( Find out how yours voted)

But few went gently into that good night. Some cheered when the decision was announced. Others broke down in tears. The divisions are clear – some feel it’s a giant step backward that encourages segregation. Others contend it’s the only way to reach an increasingly alienated group with a 40 per cent drop-out rate.

The mother of Jordan Manners, the 15-year-old killed at C.W. Jefferys last May, pleaded with the rule makers not to take the controversial step. “Please, all I’m asking everyone here, let us not be an all-black school,” Laureen Small intoned. “What we’re doing, we’re segregating each other!”

But Donna Harrow, who worked tirelessly to make the concept a reality, took an opposite track. “No one ever said little white children couldn’t come to this school,” she defends. “No one said that. You need to speak the truth.”

Stephnie Payne, the only black trustee, surprised many when she voted against the idea. That prompted catcalls of “you should be ashamed of yourself,” and “you should know better,” from the vociferous pro crowd.

Trustee Josh Matlow spearheaded the no side, but was willing to give the idea a try when his opposition was defeated. “Although I ideologically disagree when what we’ve done and I believe that most Torontonians agree with my position, we need to wish success on any new school that we create. Whatever kind of school we create, when we’ve got kids in that building, it’s got to be successful.”

“What we are doing currently is not working,” agrees Scott Harrison, who voted against the idea. “So if we continue to do things that don’t work, we’re going to continue to not have kids succeed. So if there’s an alternative to try something different, I think we have a responsibility as educators to explore that.”

“It’s really a circus, “condemns Courtney Betty, the lawyer who represents Small. “It’s an attempt to try and show that the school board is doing something, but at the end of the day, so far what have they done since the Falconer report [on school safety?] They’ve implemented a snitch line for the children. They’ve done nothing about the code of silence for the teachers. This is just another attempt again to create a mirage that something is being done.”

But exactly what form the curriculum will take is still a question. Outside of history and literature, some are wondering how you teach math or science with a ‘black focus’. The Board decided on a multi-pronged approach, including:

-Establishing a Program Area Review Team to recommend the program and operational model for an Africentric Alternative School opening in September 2009;

-Establishing a pilot program in three existing schools integrating the histories, cultures, experiences and contributions of people of African descent and other racialized groups into curriculum, teaching practices and school environment;

-Establishing a Staff Development, Research and Innovation Centre in collaboration with post-secondary institutions and community agencies to assess best practices for improving the success of marginalized and vulnerable students; and

-Developing an action plan for addressing underachievement for all marginalized and vulnerable students.

And while supporters want the new school to be opened by the start of the fall term in 2009, there’s still a question that’s not black or white but green – how to get the $325,000 from Queen’s Park to cover the start-up costs for the new entity. So far, politicians have shown no inclination to contribute anything. For more about that, click here.

Read the report here.

How Did Your Trustee Vote?

Most trustees admittedly toil in obscurity and a lot of voters might be hard pressed to name the one who represents them. But the issue of black-focused schools has brought them into a spotlight they might wish they could have avoided. Here, in alphabetical order, is a look at how all 21 of them came down on this issue.

In Favour

Irene Atkinson
Parkdale-High Park
irene.atkinson@tdsb.on.ca

Nadia Bello
Scarborough East
nadia.bello@tdsb.on.ca

Chris Bolton
Trinity-Spadina
chris.bolton@tdsb.on.ca

Sheila Carey-Meagher
Beaches-East York
Sheila.Cary-Meagher@tdsb.on.ca

Shaun Chen
Scarborough-Rouge River
shaun@shaunchen.com

Michael Coteau
Don Valley East
michael.coteau@tdsb.on.ca

Gary Crawford
Scarborough Southwest
gary.crawford@tdsb.on.ca

Bruce Davis
Etobicoke-Lakeshore
bruce.davis@tdsb.on.ca

James Pasternak
York Centre
james.pasternak@tdsb.on.ca

Maria Rodrigues
Davenport
maria.rodrigues@tdsb.on.ca

Sheila Ward
Toronto Centre-Rosedale
sheila.ward@tdsb.on.ca