– PDSB Trustee for Brampton’s wards 9-10, Satpaul Singh Johal, had a special 90-minute meeting with the board’s Education Director (ED) Ms. Rashmi Swarup yesterday. This was the 2nd such meeting between Mr. Johal and the ED in less than the past 3 months.
– ਮਿਲਵਰਤਣ ਬਾਰੇ: Mr. Johal asked ED if PDSB can do more to eliminate or at least reduce the gap between the South Asian and Black students. ED took note of Trustee Johal’s suggestion and said that we will work with student groups from September 2023 to create a better level of understanding among pupils. She also said that it is a difficult task (not easy to ‘break the ice’ from cultural mindsets), but the principals and parent councils should be working together on this issue.
– ਧਰਮਾਂ ਬਾਰੇ: With reference to the feedback received from the concerned families, the increased level of religious events in PDSB schools was discussed. ED Swarup agreed that our schools should remain religion free. By maintaining the balance, schools should remain a place for learning, focused on teaching, and celebrating the students’ achievements instead.
– ਜਾਤਾਂ ਬਾਰੇ: The issue of casteism, with reference to a recent incident in Brampton’s ward 9 school, ED Swarup said that the victims have the option to file a written complaint about their experience.
– ਕਬੱਡੀ ਬਾਰੇ: Trustee Johal expressed his intention to resume Kabadi for the students. Coach Gregory Cappucutti is discovering the possibilities for reviving Kabadi as an extracurricular activity at the school level from next year. ED Swarup agreed to it.
– ਸਮੋਸੇ ਤੇ ਪੀਜਾ ਬਾਰੇ: Mr. Johal discussed with the ED if Samosa and Pizza were the healthiest food choices for the children. Concerns raised by some Sikh and Hindu families about ‘Halal cheese’ for pizza were also discussed. The price ($3/slice) is also an issue. Ms. Swarup said that parents can raise such concerns with their principals during parent council meetings as decisions about lunches are made by the school management.
– ਨਸ਼ੇ ਬਾਰੇ: ED Swarup agreed that South Asian parents and grandparents can benefit a lot from substance abuse awareness sessions in the schools delivered in their own cultural languages, especially in Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu.
– ਫੋਨ ਤੇ ਕੈਸ਼ ਬਾਰੇ: ED Swarup said that students (from K to 12th grade) are not asked (required) to bring cell phones and cash/credit cards to the school. She added PDSB is not responsible if those items are lost in the school. School-cash-online is for purpose and parents must rethink their decisions to buy phones with Wi-Fi access for kids. Give lunch from home, instead of giving cash for lunch to the school-going kids!
– ਪੁਲਿਸ ਬਾਰੇ: Prevention of violent incidents, and the role of the School Resource Officer (SRO) were discussed. Ms. Swarup said that police may patrol around the schools, not inside the schools. She also said that SRO was not deployed in all schools, and incidents could not be prevented during the two decades of that program.
– EA ਦੀ ਘਾਟ ਬਾਰੇ: About the Board-wide shortage of education assistants, Trustee Johal once again said that the wage and benefit package for EA must be improved. PDSB administration has started considering this idea.
