Strategic Action 4.6: Fulfil the aspirations, protocols, and practices of the Employment Equity Policy.
Welcome to the Louis Riel School Division’s Multi-Year Strategic Plan (MYSP) 2023-27 action pages. For each strategic action, we are diligently taking steps to achieve our goals. Together, these goals strive to create the best possible educational environment for students, staff, and community. On these pages, you will find answers to two key questions: What have we done so far? And where do we plan to be by 2027?
What have we done so far?
Accessibility and Advocacy:
- Hosted an accessibility forum to engage the community in ongoing dialogue.
- Advocated and participated in provincial committees to address barriers to employment for internationally educated teachers.
- Removed barriers for employees who are educational assistants in the division but also internationally educated teachers, both with and without permanent Manitoba certification.
Staff Learning and Training:
- Mandated training for the leadership team specifically around bias and hiring in spring 2024.
- Offered optional staff learning opportunities for the leadership team on antiracism through Shelley and Izzedin’s “Polarizing Conversations” workshop.
- Trained staff and implemented accessibility measures (e.g., tools on the website).
Policy:
- Created Policy GBA – Employment Practices: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Employment Practices – Admin Protocol in collaboration with community and various employee groups through working group.
- Standardized teacher interview questions to draw on indicators identified in policy, the division’s mission and vision, and our 2023-2027 MYSP.
- Refined language on job postings to make them more inclusive and reflective of divisional values.
- Developed, implemented, and revised policies through an equity lens.
Partnerships:
- Partnered with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) to strengthen divisional practices and provide resources.
- Partnered and consulted with religious bodies to broaden divisional perspectives around religious leaves and accommodations (e.g., Manitoba Islamic Association and prayer spaces).
- Partnered with the Centre for Aboriginal Human Resource Development (CAHRD) and the Community-based Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (CATEP).
- Completed a feasibility study with the Université de Saint-Boniface and the Bureau de l'éducation française on an in-service French Educational Assistant training program.
- Hired an on-staff Knowledge Keeper to support Indigenous initiatives.
Communications:
- Published “Creating a Culture of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism in the Louis Riel School Division,” which explores ways staff are coming to strengthening equity and inclusion practices.
Data Collection:
- Developed the voluntary employee Ethnocultural Survey in consultation with staff, members of racialized communities, and the division’s various unions.
Where do we plan to be by 2027?
Data Collection:
- Attach ethnocultural data to employee profiles and/or applications to remove barriers to self-identifying.
- Employee Centre that allows staff to update their own information e.g. gender identity or add demographic information e.g. ethnocultural identity, thus removing barriers presented by current HRIF
- Self-declaration as part of recruitment process
- Launch a public Staff Diversity Dashboard that emulates the Student Diversity Dashboard.
- Gather data re: school based PD related to anti-racism, equity, decolonization, inclusion
- Strategic plan that addressed recruitment (language in new teacher collective agreement)
Policy and Hiring:
- Have our staff be a better representation of the student population they serve.
- Yearly review committee for Policy GBA
Mentorship and Training:
- Relaunch ITEP
- Ongoing professional development for leaders
- Mentorship programming
