African-Nova Scotian students being suspended at disproportionately higher rates

Fells said little has changed in the education system since a 1994Black Learners Advisory Committee (BLAC) report that pointed to systemic racism in the provincial education system. Fells worked as a researcher on that report.

He said the experience of many black students is they don't see themselves represented in the curriculum or in the teaching staff, and they don't believe they aretreated fairly.

"We're still talking about the same things that I talked about when I was in school," Fells said. "We're still talking about the same things [from] when my parents were in school."

Highest numbers in Halifax

The suspension numbers were most pronounced in the Halifax Regional School Board, according to data from the first semesters of the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016school years.

• In the 1,418 out-of school suspension cases in 2014-2015where students self-identified their race, 18 per cent were of African descent even though students of African descentmade up about seven per cent of the overall student body.
• For the same time period in 2015-2016, there were 1,646 suspensions. Students of African descent accounted for 22.5 per cent of the suspensions in the 1,038 cases where students self-identified their race. Black studentsrepresented 7.8 per cent of the overall student body that semester.

The chair of the Halifax Regional School Board said addressing the disproportionate suspension numbersis a priority for the board.

"We have an issue that we need to address," said Dave Wright.

He said the board has hired two specialists in culturally relevant pedagogy to work with teachers to help them better understand how to teach students from different cultural backgrounds. The board has also hired more support workers to specifically work with African-Nova Scotian students.

Lowest numbers in Strait region

On the lower end of the suspension spectrum was the Strait Regional School Board, which runs schools in Antigonish, Guysborough, Richmond and Inverness counties.

The percentage of cases where students self-identified their race was 49.3 per cent in 2014-2015 and 46.6 per cent in2015-2016.

• In the 2014-2015 school year, students of African descent accounted for 2.4 per cent of the 458 out-of-school suspensions, while representing two per cent of the student population.
• For the 2015-2016 school year, students of African descent accounted for 2.98 per cent of the 605 suspensions and represented 1.93 per cent of the student body.

The suspension numbers for African-NovaScotianstudents intheCape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board,Chignecto-CentralRegional School Board andTri-CountyRegional School Board were greater than in the Strait Regional School Board, but below those of the Halifax Regional School Board.

Between21to 70per cent of students self-identified their race, depending on the school board.

CBC News couldn't determinewhether the data from the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board is for in-school or out-of-school suspensions, or both.

In school vs. out-of-school suspensions

Out-of-school suspensions result in a student being sent home for a maximum of10 days. Students can also receive in-school suspensions where they continue to do schoolwork in a place like the principal's office or a resource room.

Two school boardsAnnapolis Valley Regional School Board and South Shore Regional School Boardsaid their data didn't track student race, while the numbers atConseilscolaireacadienprovincielwere too smallto work with.

IrvineCarvery, the chair of the Council on African Canadian Education, said if the higher proportion of suspensionsrelated to ademographic other than black children, immediate action would be taken.

"It's a crisis, and yet I'm not hearing an outcry," he said.

Root causes

Whileshewasn't surprised by the suspension numbers, she said they're indicative of an education system that has an "unconscious bias" againstblack learners.

"It's just not true that black children do more things that should lead to them being suspended," saidRoberts-Jeffers."It's just not true that black children don't have the same intellect as other children, but that's what the system would tell you."

Student testing results

Academically, blackstudents lag behindtheir peers. According toreading, writing and math assessments for students in grades 3, 4, 6 and 8, the percentage of African Nova Scotian students that meet the standard trails the overall student population.

"Without a good education, what tends to happen is our young people tend to be in trouble with the law and end up in the justice system," he said.

Education department response

Neither Education Minister Karen Casey nor the deputy minister were available for an interview. In a statement, spokeswoman Heather Fairbairn said the department is working to modernize the education system for the benefit of all students through its Education Action Plan.

"We are working toward ...introducing culturally responsive programming and increasing the supports available for teaching and learning," she wrote.

"We are providing students and teachers with more access to culturally relevant resources. Student support workers are providing students with strong mentors and role models and working to build strong relationships between home and school."

Fairbairn said the department is also investing in research and supporting the development of community-based programs, such as working withBetween the Bridges, the Delmore Buddy Daye Learning Institute and the Black Educators Association.