There will be no more Guelph police officers embedded in Upper Grand District School Board schools.
The board voted unanimously for the removal of the School Resource Officer program in UGDSB schools at Tuesday's board meeting.
“It's all about evolving and it's all about 'we can always do better', and I think that's what we're trying to do here,” said Mike Foley, board trustee and member of the Police Presence in Schools Task Force.
Aside from the removal of the SRO program, the seven recommendations approved include:
- that administrators collect data on all incidents that police respond to at schools
- that staff collect feedback on all police presentations in schools
- that students and parents be notified in advance of all police presentations at school
- that police presentations be vetted
- that the presence of police at all schools continue when a violent threat risk assessment is activated
- that the board and police continue to deliver all foot safety patrol training and bus patrol training.
“It was a long and arduous process. We spoke to other school boards, members of different communities, experts, police and many police services. We reached out to so many different groups through different means and methods that I think we developed as comprehensive an idea of what the community needs and wants, as possible,” Foley said.
Trustee Linda Busuttil said the purpose of deferring the motion from last month was not to indicate that the board was not in favour of the motion but rather, to create space and have conversations around the issue.
Delegations from two community members shared their lived experiences with the SRO program in UGDSB and in the TDSB.
Busuttil acknowledged that conflict is still in UGDSB schools and communities and it’s important for the board to have clear system direction around the culture of restorative alternative practices with discipline. She said she received many emails from other school boards such as the TDSB to encourage the UGDSB to support the removal of the SRO program.
“I just want to acknowledge the really good practices that we do in the Upper Grand, the restorative practices. That we want to have more intense and ongoing professional development,” said Busuttil.
The UGDSB began discussions about police presence in schools mid-June last year after receiving many emails and phone calls from community members who suggested that police have been targeting BIPOC students. This was a week after thousands of people flooded Downtown Guelph to support the Black Lives Matter movement on June 7.
A June 2020 background report of police presence in schools from board chair Martha MacNeil immediately called for the formation of a task force to determine how to proceed with the SRO program.
After much back and forth on creating a balanced task force with the right voices, the board settled with a 14-person Police Presence in Schools Task Force with community and school staff representatives with knowledge and lived experience of police in schools. There were no police members on the task force.
The seven recommendations passed Tuesday were created after the task force conducted several community surveys, virtual meetings and discussions with the community. They also regularly consulted with the police.
According to the school board website, the Guelph Police Service’s High School Resource Officer program was created to allow officers to work closely with students to provide them with a safe environment, to offer guidance and to help promote a better understanding of law enforcement.
When presenting the report in the board meeting last March, Marva Wisdom, community leader and member of the task force said the SRO program has moved away from its original purpose and is poorly set up, something police also recognize.
“I think this is an opportunity for us to take a step back, regroup and build, rebuild those community partnerships not just with the police, but with other community stakeholders and members to build a capacity in the school system in the community. So I am happy to place those motions I will be voting in support of those motions,” said Busuttil.
