The Vancouver School Board (VSB) engaged Urban Matters to undertake a comprehensive community engagement process to listen to students, families, staff, and the community about their experiences and understanding of racism and discrimination in the VSB community. We provided a variety of engagement opportunities and used an equity-based approach to analyze the findings, amplifying the voices and responses of those who experience marginalization based on their identity. 

Impact

All students, staff, and families deserve to feel safe and welcome at school regardless of their race, gender, age, class, ability, religion, or any other factor. Yet engagement for this project revealed that people in one or more marginalized groups experience a heightened lack of belonging and support at school versus their peers. Considerations for VSB therefore include several strategies to incorporate more equitable policies, data collection, services, training, accessibility, and cultural learning opportunities to back up their mandate of anti-oppression, anti-racism, and non-discrimination. These considerations were based on thousands of student, staff, and parent feedback collected to inform the VSB’s Anti-Racism and Non-Discrimination Framework, which you can learn more about in this interactive StoryMap created by Urban Matters.