Public board chair calls for new vote on SRO program
The chair of the Edmonton Public School Board has brought forward a notice of motion to hold a re-vote on suspending the controversial School Resource Officer (SRO) program.
Trisha Estabrooks said she requires unanimous consent from the board to move forward with her motion. If she receives it, a vote will take place Tuesday that could see the program suspended as soon as the 2020-21 school year.
“It would be suspended, pending the outcome of a review, the review would come back, we’d make a decision about the continuation of the program at that point,” said Estabrooks on Monday.
The SRO program places Edmonton Police Service officers in public schools throughout the city to work with children. Supporters of the program say it is crucial for school safety and building relationships between officers and students. Critics of the program argue the program targets marginalized students and can lead to the criminalization of young people, particularly Black and Indigenous students. Last week, the board voted in favour of an external review of the SRO program, but a 4-4 vote resulted in the program not being suspended while the investigation is completed.
The call to re-vote comes after former trustee Cheryl Johner resigned last week following racist comments she made about linking refugee students to violence in Edmonton schools. The board will formally accept her resignation at Tuesday’s meeting.
“My comments were inappropriate and immediately regrettable,” Johner said in a statement last week. “I take full responsibility for what I said, and sincerely apologize for the hurt and upset I have caused our families, students, staff and community members.”
If Estabrooks does not receive unanimous approval, last week’s vote would be upheld as is. In that case, she said, the motion to continue the conversation about the SRO program will take place in the fall.
“The conversation about the role of police officers in our schools is one that we need to have as a school division, as a city, as a society, quite frankly,” Estabrooks said.
Regardless of what happens Tuesday, there will be an external review of the SRO program, which hasn’t been done since its inception in 1979, Estabrooks said. She said the review will be extensive and include input from past and present students and teachers as well as SRO and police officers.
“It’s going to be in-depth, but this is the hard work that’s required, so that we can talk about the impact of this program,” Estabrooks said. “And again, this is just one program of many different conversations that the school divisions having around systemic racism and what that means today.”
Estabrooks said there is no timeline for the board’s SRO review and that a decision on how to fill Johner’s vacant seat has not been made.
Trustee Michelle Draper and Coun. Aaron Paquette released a joint statement Monday calling for a safe alternative to the SRO program. Draper said she is joining Estabrook’s call for a new vote on suspending the program.
Paquette announced he would bring forward an accompanying motion at the city level on Tuesday calling for the Edmonton Police Commission to join EPSB in reviewing the program.
This is the hard work that’s required, so that we can talk about the impact of this program.