The Near North District School Board is getting ready to have its students take an identity survey.
However, board chair Jay Aspin is emphasizing that people should not interpret this to mean the board is involved in racial profiling.
“Not at all,” Aspin said.
“The survey is confidential and the information gleaned is for trends and patterns. It’s so we can determine what the needs of our student population are. There is nothing sinister.”
Aspin says the makeup of the board has changed over the years and is now more diverse.
He says while the board “wants to respect and celebrate the diversity of all students” it also wants to know how it can serve them better.
Aspin says that’s where the survey comes in.
Aspin has been a trustee of the Near North board on and off over at least 25 years and can’t recall a survey of this magnitude being carried out.
Once the survey is complete and the board has a snapshot of the composition of its students, the study is expected to help it design programs that are helpful for all students.
All students will be taking the survey.
Aspin says students from Kindergarten to Grade 6 will complete the survey with their parents while the students in the higher grades will take the survey at school.
The survey runs for two weeks beginning April 29th and ending May 10th.
Aspin says it takes about 20 minutes to complete.
Some of the questions revolve around what the students experience at their respective school.
Aspin says it will take until about late spring to compile the findings and once that’s done he expects the board to post the results on its website.
The student survey is confidential, while not anonymous.
All collected responses will be stored in a secure, confidential database, and will only be accessed by authorized Research staff to identify and summarize trends among Near North students.
Individual student information will not be shared.
