Guelph’s public school board is hosting a virtual town hall on Tuesday evening to discuss having police officers in schools.
It gets underway at 6:30 p.m. and the Upper Grand District School Board is asking students, staff, parents and community members to provide their input to the questions being asked.
The board, which also encompasses Wellington and Dufferin counties, is also launching a survey asking the same questions posed to participants during the town hall.
This review of police officers in schools follows the death of George Floyd in May and worldwide protests against racism and racial injustice.
Upper Grand launch a task force after its trustees and board staff received questions about the role of policing in its schools.
It’s made up of trustees, school staff and community members representing various organizations. It’s also being co-chaired by local advocate in Guelph’s Black community, Marva Wisdom.
The task force is expected to provide recommendations by the end of 2020.
In the meantime, the school board will continue with its school resource officer programs with local police services.
Several other school boards in Ontario and across Canada have launched similar reviews or ended their partnerships with police services altogether.
Waterloo Region District School Board has suspended its police resource officer program pending a review, while the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board voted to end their partnership with Hamilton police.
More information on the task force and the town hall can be found on Upper Grand’s website.