ACTIVISTS OUTRAGED OVER PDSB DECISION TO RENEGE ON COMMITMENT

TRUSTEES HAVE ONCE AGAIN STRAINED THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH PEEL'S BLACK COMMUNITY, WRITE NOKHA DAKROUB AND DAVID BOSVELD

On May 24, trustees at the Peel District School Board voted to renege on a commitment to honour the late Kola Iluyomade, a Black activist whose work shined light on systemic anti-black racism at the PDSB.

Their decision led to chaos at the meeting, with frustrated parents and advocates taking the chamber floor with placards in protest. Trustees shut down the public meeting and retreated to a closed session.

Local activists who fought for years to tackle anti-black racism in Peel schools are angry. And rightfully so.

They fear this might be the beginning of a process that slowly reverses twoand-a-half years of progress made during Ministry supervision which ended this January.

Iluyomade was a hero for many in the Black community, called a "modernday superman" by some.

PDSB'S own staff report described him as someone who "lobbied relentlessly for disruption and dismantling of anti-black racism," and "a symbol of hope for others."

"Without his advocacy, there would be no Black Student Success Strategy, no Equity Department," the report added.

Iluyomade was unapologetic in his advocacy. His work called out the board and trustees. It shed light on inequities. He was a strong Black man who said Black children deserve to be treated like everyone else.

He was not one to sit quietly and let situations like the instance of police being called to handcuff a sixyear-old Black girl at a school go unnoticed.

Under Ministry supervision, the PDSB committed to creating a Centre to dismantle anti-black racism within the board. A Steering Committee was created of Black staff, parents and community members who recommended the new centre be named after Iluyomade to honour the legacy of the late activist and continue his work. In June 2022, the PDSB announced a commitment to name the new centre as the Kola Iluyomade Centre of Black Excellence.

With Ministry supervision lifted this January and powers returned to Trustees, PDSB staff planned to take the name for approval at a Committee meeting on May 3.

However, just the week prior, at the April 26 Board meeting, trustees voted to change the naming of schools policy to not allow PDSB schools or buildings to be named after any individual at all.

With the new naming policy conveniently passed, trustees voted to drop Iluyomade's name from the Centre at a May 3 Committee meeting and then during a tense May 24 board meeting.

Trustee Kathy Mcdonald, a longtime champion for tackling anti-black racism, was the only trustee who tried to stand up against the decision.

Every other trustee seemed predetermined to not even entertain a discussion. Trustee Mcdonald's motion to name the Centre after Iluyomade was oddly ruled out of order by the Chair. Her next motion to defer the decision could not find a single trustee to second it in order to allow debate.

Frustrated parents and activists took to the floor with placards protesting the eventual 10-1 vote to not include Iluyomade's name on the Centre. The chaotic meeting was shut down and moved to a closed room.

Was the decision by trustees retribution against Iluyomade because his work publicly humiliated them and removed their powers? We will never know. Whatever their intent was, the reality is that trustees have once again strained their relationship with Peel's Black community.

Iluyomade was a man who fought unapologetically to end systemic antiBlack racism at the PDSB. He was a man who died in the middle of his fight.

It was a shameful act by the board of trustees to renege on the PDSB'S commitment to name the Kola Iluyomade Centre of Black Excellence as a symbol of his work. It was also a sign of the same old, same old procedural tactics to suppress those who fight for equity at the board.

Will the trustees reflect back and reverse the decision or is PDSB back to its old ways? At the next board meeting on June 14, we'll find out.

Nokha Dakroub is a former Peel District School Board Trustee, who led the charge to combat systemic anti-black racism and Islamophobia at the board.