Guelph public school board reviewing police officers in schools

Guelph’s public school board will be reviewing its school resource officer program by creating a task force to look into the situation.

Trustees with the Upper Grand District School Board voted in favour of the review during a virtual meeting this week.

Upper Grand’s task force is made up of two trustees, one student trustee and three staff members, including the superintendent responsible for equity and inclusion.

Part of their review will including organizing a town hall meeting regarding the police presence in schools to ensure “as many voices are included as possible,” the board said.

The task force is expected to report back to the school board no later than December 2020.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

In the meantime, the school board which also encompasses Wellington and Dufferin counties will continue with its school resource officer programs with local police services.

2:18 Waterloo Regional Police investigating distribution of racist flyers

The move comes amid a movement to defund the police as part of the Black Lives Matter campaign which calls for removing police officers from schools.

Waterloo Region District School Board has suspended its police resource officer program amid a review, while the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board voted to end their partnership with Hamilton police.

Reviews of police in schools are also taking place in Vancouver and Victoria.