Arleen Huggins Appointed to Lead Trustee Code of Conduct Review
Hamilton, Ontario – August 17, 2020: Manny Figueiredo, Director of Education and Secretary of the Board, shares the following statement with the community:
“On August 1, 2020, serious concerns about racism and oppression were raised by former Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) student trustees.
In response, HWDSB took urgent action and immediately initiated an independent, third-party Trustee Code of Conduct Review.
On August 4 and 5, the Ministry of Education and Anti-Racism Directorate (ARD) were consulted and recommended several investigators with experience in reviewing allegations of racism in institutions.
HWDSB selected Arleen Huggins as the independent third-party who will lead this Review. Ms. Huggins is a Partner at Koskie Minsky LLP and specializes in workplace investigations and reviews pertaining to anti-Black racism. Philip Graham, a senior associate with her firm with similar expertise, will be assisting to expedite the completion of the Review.
The Review – to begin on August 17, 2020 – 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.
We will keep the community updated throughout this process. The final review report will be made public, and the findings will be openly reviewed at a Board meeting.
The HWDSB is committed to confronting racism with action.”
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Media Contact:
Shawn McKillop, APR
Manager, Communications and Community Engagement
905.515.6227 | [email protected]
Updated on Friday, September 24, 2021.