During the month of February,聽the 嫩芽视频 (HCDSB) is proud to honour and celebrate the many achievements and contributions of Black Canadians, both past and present, as we pay tribute to the diverse backgrounds, experiences, cultures and histories of Black individuals and communities. 聽
Black History Month聽provides an opportunity for intentional focus, but we know that our commitment to centering Black excellence must extend beyond February. We also know that聽denouncing and dismantling anti-Black racism in our classrooms,聽schools and across the institution and聽our community is our moral and legal obligation.
At HCDSB, we are committed to Human Rights and Equity. We work to meet this commitment in a variety of ways, including the provision of professional learning, ensuring we have inclusive curriculum/assessment practices in place in our classrooms, and through the implementation聽of聽policies and procedures that provide consistency in how we respond, report, document, and prevent discrimination, harassment and hate or bias-motivated incidents. I encourage you to visit our website to learn more about our聽work to achieve systems equity:聽/our-board/human-rights-and-equity/
Although we have made some progress, we recognize that our work is not done.聽We must be proactive and accountable to Black students, families and staff we serve as we work together to denounce anti-Black racism in our schools and workplaces, and across our broader community.聽
As we enter February, and we intentionally centre Black joy and excellence in schools across our system,聽I am personally committed to the work of聽dismantling systemic anti-Black racism聽throughout the year, across our school district. 聽
Together, we will create safe, welcoming and inclusive schools and workplaces for every member of our HCDSB community.
John Klein
Director of Education
