Hamilton public school board appoints lawyer to lead review into racism allegations

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Published August 19, 2020 at 4:41 pm

Hamilton’s public school board has appointed a lawyer to lead its independent review of recent allegations of racism within the board.

Hamilton’s public school board has appointed a lawyer to lead its independent review of recent allegations of racism within the board.

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) announced Monday (August 17) that Arleen Huggins, a partner at Toronto firm Koskie Minsky LLP and who specializes in workplace investigations and reviews pertaining to anti-Black racism, will be leading the review.

Philip Graham, a senior associate with her firm with similar expertise, will also be assisting to expedite the completion of the review.

“The review is completely independent from the Board and will be a transparent process that will include discussions with all trustees and relevant senior management of the Board, and result in a written Report of the findings,” a statement from Manny Figueiredo, Director of Education and Secretary of the Board, says.

The review got underway on Monday and a deadline for its findings has not yet been determined, but Figueiredo said that the HWDSB will be providing updated throughout the process and findings will be shared with the public.

The review gets underway after a former student trustee claimed she experienced overt racism and oppression while working at the HWDSB.

Ahona Mehdi, who ended her term as the student trustee on August 1, described in a Twitter thread her role as student trustee as being “the most patronizing experience of my life.

“Today marks the end of my term as a 2019-2020 HWDSB Student Trustee. No, I’m not grateful to have been in this role,” Mehdi said.

Mehdi gave several examples of racist incidents she had allegedly witnessed/experienced from fellow student trustees, including:

  • A white trustee using the n-word in reference to black athlete Serena Williams
  • A white trustee claiming that there is “too much Black leadership” in the school board
  • A white trustee claiming that Arabs/Muslims are evil and that “we shouldn’t waste our time/breath discussing such hopeless people”

Since Mehdi cames forward, another former student trustee, with support of HWDSB Kids Need Help, to share similar experiences of witnessing racism and oppression at the board.

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