Guelph’s public school board has voted to remove police resource officers from its schools.
Trustees with the Upper Grand District School Board made the decision in an unanimous vote and approved several recommendations during a meeting on Tuesday night.
The program first came under fire in June 2020 as part of the Black Lives Matter movement in response to the murder of George Floyd.
A task force made up of trustees and students that was formed then returned with several recommendations involving police in school, which were all approved.
Police officers will still be at schools for presentations, training and to respond to any calls.
But when it comes to police presentations, they must first be vetted by the board and students and parents must be given notice prior to them. Feedback from all police presentations will also be collected by administrators.
They will also be collecting data on all police calls to the schools which will include racialized and marginalized data.
The board and police services will also continue to collaborate on training for foot safety and bus patrols.
The full report can be found on Upper Grand’s website.
Several other school boards across Ontario have either ended the school resource program as well or are reviewing it.
Most recently, Peel Region cancelled the program in November 2020 while it is currently under review by the Waterloo Region District School Board.
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