Roles, Responsibilities and Accountability
3.1 Responsibility references the duty to fulfill a role, make a decision or take a specific action. Responsibility may be delegated based on individual roles and level or scope of authority.
3.2 Accountability references being responsible for decisions and actions. It also refers to the consequences of not fulfilling responsibilities appropriately, including where this leads to discriminatory effects, experiences and/or outcomes. Accountability cannot be delegated
3.3 Responsibilities and accountabilities:
- Are key parts of supporting, promoting and protecting human rights and meeting requirements under the Human Rights Policy and procedures; and
- Can be described as the relationship between:
-
- Rights holders: all students, employees and community members; and
- Duty Bearers: all employees. Employees are responsible for promoting, protecting and upholding human rights and preventing and addressing discrimination against rights holders. The Director of Education will ensure that all employees are aware of their responsibilities and that processes are in place for accountability.
3.4 Under the Human Rights Policy, the term “employee” includes permanent, temporary, casual and contract staff, volunteers, university and college students on placement, interns and any other person included in the definition of “worker” under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Responsibilities
3.5 Under the Human Rights Policy, all DDSB community members (employees, students, parents/guardians, permit holders, vendors, service providers, authorized visitors and any other person authorized to be present within DDSB learning or working environments or spaces) must:
- Treat other DDSB community members with dignity and respect
- Not engage in discrimination, harassment or any other violation of the Human Rights Policy and the Code of Conduct for Students; and
- Contribute to and support the District’s efforts to provide learning and working environments that are safe, welcoming, respectful, inclusive, accessible and free from discrimination, oppression and harm.
Duty Bearer Responsibilities
3.6 Under the Human Rights Policy, all employees have additional Duty Bearer responsibilities within the scope of their roles, authority and influence to:
- Promote and protect human rights and provide DDSB community members (rights holders and duty bearers) with information about their rights and responsibilities;
- Identify, prevent and address human rights barriers and discriminatory structures in learning and/or working environments (for example, classrooms, schools, offices, job sites, etc.), teaching and learning, services, and operational, corporate and employment related policies, procedures, practices, plans, initiatives and decision making;
- Respond to and address human rights barriers, issues and accommodation requests under the Human Rights Policy for all DDSB community members;
- Learn about the Human Rights Policy and related procedures so that all Duty Bearers have knowledge, skills, learning and resources to apply human rights, anti-discrimination and anti-racism principles to their jobs/roles, decision-making and interactions with DDSB community
members; and
- Correct and address human rights issues, incidents and complaints.
3.7 For administrators, supervisors, managers and senior leaders, Duty Bearer responsibilities also include the following:
- Not condoning discrimination and harassment;
- Addressing human rights issues, complaints and accommodation requests fairly and effectively;
- Leading/championing the implementation of the Human Rights Policy and procedures;
- Holding employees accountable for meeting duty bearer responsibilities and other responsibilities set out in the Human Rights Policy, procedures and this framework; and
- In consultation with Human Resources, taking appropriate remedial, responsive, restorative and corrective action when these responsibilities are not met, including discipline up to and including termination of employment (for employees) and expulsion (for students), subject to the principles of progressive discipline.
3.8 The Director of Education and/or designates is responsible for:
- Promoting and maintaining an accountable human rights organizational culture that:
- Supports, respects and upholds the District’s commitments and responsibilities set out in the Human Rights Policy and procedures; and
- Complies with the individual and organizational requirements and elements of this framework;
- Holding direct reports accountable; and
- Providing regular reports to the Board of Trustees about organizational compliance with the Human Rights Policy, including relevant implementation and experience and outcome measures and data.
3.9 Appendix A outlines additional Duty Bearer responsibilities for the Director of Education and all employees, including school-based employees and employees who interact with students, non-school based employees, administrators, managers/supervisors and system leaders. All responsibilities are based on and/or flow from the Human Rights Policy and procedures. Employees must understand, apply and fulfill these Duty Bearer responsibilities and also contribute to and support school, system department and shared system-level/organizational human rights responsibilities and accountabilities, as outlined in this procedure.
Organizational Requirements
3.10 All schools, program areas and system departments are, through their respective employees, responsible for the successful implementation and adoption of the Human Rights Policy and procedures, which include:
- Acting on and implementing the elements of this framework; and
- Fulfilling Duty Bearer roles and responsibilities in:
- Learning and working environments; and
- The services and supports they provide to students, parents/guardians, employees and community members
Elements of an Accountable Human Rights Organization
3.11 To support an organizational culture of human rights responsibilities and accountability as called for in the Human Rights Policy, the District will:
- Document expectations so that all employees understand their Duty Bearer responsibilities (for example, in operational and employment procedures, practices, strategies and initiatives, job descriptions, hiring processes, performance appraisals/reviews and learning plans);
- Build employee capacity to meet Duty Bearer responsibilities and provide Duty Bearers with knowledge and skills (for example, through professional development/training and access to tools, resources and internal subject matter expertise) to help apply human rights principles and Duty Bearer responsibilities in day-to-day actions and decision making;
- Uphold human rights by proactively identifying, preventing and addressing discriminatory structures and barriers in policies, procedures and practices;
- Develop and maintain effective issue and complaint resolution processes to address individual and systemic issues and complaints; and
- Monitor, evaluate and report results through data collection, analysis and public reporting.
3.12 All District employees contribute to these shared organizational responsibilities to implement the Human Rights Policy and related procedures. Appendix B provides additional information on organizational responsibilities and accountability.
Accountability Mechanisms
3.13 Each school and system department is responsible for developing and actioning implementation plans to meet the requirements of the policy and procedures as summarized below (including the requirements and actions listed in Appendices A and B) into all activities
| Organizational Level |
Accountability Mechanism |
| District |
Decisions and recommendations to the Board of Trustees
Operational Plan
Accessibility Plan
Strategies and initiatives
Procedures and practices
System Professional Development Plan
Community partnerships
Employment systems
School Climate, Student Census and Workforce Census data
Human rights issues, incidents, complaints and accommodation data
Communications Plan
Engagement Plan |
Schools and system
departments |
Human Rights Policy and procedures implementation plans (and/or
school learning plans or department operational plans)
School Climate and Student Census data
School Community Councils and community engagement
Program evaluation |
Managers,
supervisors, system
leaders and
administrators |
All operational and employment related decision making (recruitment,
hiring, performance management, promotions, discipline, etc.) |
All employees (at all
levels, including the
Director of Education) |
Job description/position profile
Performance appraisal
Learning plan
Professional development
Professional duties and obligations |
Data Collection, Evaluation and Reporting
3.14 In accordance with the Human Rights Policy, the Director and designates are to collect, analyze and publicly report to the Board of Trustees on specific qualitative and quantitative data including and not limited to:
- In relation to services, learning environments and student experiences and outcomes: Student Census and School Climate surveys, academic placements, course enrolments, access to programs, achievement and learning skills, well-being, attendance, bullying/safety, Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) results, credits granted to students, graduation metrics, post-secondary access (i.e., university and college applications and confirmations), accommodations, special education identifications, special education class placements, awards and scholarships, discipline (for example, suspensions and expulsions), extra and co-curricular engagement, and human rights issues, complaints and resolutions/results; and
- In relation to employment, working environments and employee experiences and outcomes: Workforce Census and employee experience surveys, recruitment, selection, accommodations, workplace conditions and experiences, retention, access to developmental opportunities, volunteer recruitment, promotions, discipline, workforce data, terminations, exits, and human rights issues, incidents, complaints and resolutions/results.
3.15 The Director, in consultation with Assessment and Accountability, may also consider additional data and research, as may be required to uphold the objectives of the Human Rights Policy.
3.16 In relation to this data, the Director of Education and designates are to develop an evaluation plan to:
- Identify potentially discriminatory structures, policies, practices, barriers and differential and disproportionate student and employee opportunities, access, experiences and outcomes;
- Act on the results of the evaluation (for example, remove barriers, adjust practices, revise procedures or this framework, etc.) to support ongoing human rights performance improvements; and
- Report on the results to the Board of Trustees and the public
Communications and Information Sharing
3.17 The Director and designates will communicate about and publicly post this procedure in accordance with the requirements of the Human Rights Policy and procedures.
Review Process
3.18 The Director of Education and designates will review and update this procedure as necessary and appropriate but it shall be reviewed at least every five years. To support the review process, the review will include:
- Information, trends and data (for example, school climate and well-being survey data, student census/identity survey, workforce census data, complaints data, accommodations data, etc.);
- Input from and evidence of impact on students, parents/guardians and employees; and
- Evolving human rights law, policy and/or practices.
