It is with mixed emotions that we share that Acting Associate Director of Equitable Outcomes and Schools Cecil Roach has announced his retirement, effective September 29, 2023.
Associate Director Roach has served the education sector with distinction for over 42 years.
After arriving in Canada from Montserrat in his early teens, Mr. Roach completed most of his schooling in Montreal and holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Concordia and McGill Universities.
He began his teaching career in Quebec teaching English at Chambly County High School and Centennial Regional High School. He became an administrator in 1995 and began at YRDSB in 1999. Since joining our board, he has held the positions of administrator, Superintendent of Schools, Superintendent of Inclusivity and Community Services, Coordinating Superintendent of Equity and Community Services, Coordinating Superintendent of Indigenous Education and Equity, and Acting Associate Director of Education, Equitable Outcomes and Schools.
Over his 24-year tenure at YRDSB, Cecil has made immense contributions to our board and to the Ontario public education system. He is a leader in equity and inclusivity and has played an integral role in shaping equitable and inclusive education in York Region and Ontario. It goes without saying that his work has had a profound effect on the lives of countless students and our Board as a whole.
Over the past 13 years, Cecil has been a lead learner with the Inclusive School and Community Services team which is committed to working to ensure that York Region’s schools and workplaces are equitable and inclusive places to learn and to work. Cecil’s unwavering commitment to ensuring our schools and workplaces are identity-affirming, inclusive for all, and safe and welcoming places to learn and work cannot be understated.
Cecil is credited with many accolades and achievements but some of his most notable are receiving the African Canadian Achievement Award in 2015 for Excellence in Education, co-founding the Alliance of Educators for Black Students, leadership responsibility for the creation of the YRDSB Centre for Black Student Excellence and leadership responsibility for the YRDSB Dismantling Anti-Black Racism Strategy.
Over the years, many of our educators have looked to Cecil as a mentor. He has modeled the expectations we have of our staff and ensured that they have had the education and the supports needed to make their classrooms safe, inclusive and equitable.
Associate Director Roach will stay on with the Board until September 29, 2023 to assist with the transition of the incoming Director of Education, Bill Cober.
We thank Associate Director Roach for his tireless efforts to support all of our students over the past 24 years. Please join us in wishing him all the best in his much-deserved retirement.
Ron Lynn, Chair
Scott Yake, Director of Education (Interim)