Trustees vote to return police to public schools
`Too soon to tell' what role officers will play, chairwoman Kusiek says
In a 5-3 vote, the board of trustees at Edmonton Public Schools voted to have the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) take a “formal role” in division schools.
In 2020, the division suspended the school resource officer (SRO) program after hearing concerns surrounding the safety and well-being of racialized and marginalized youths in schools.
Tuesday's special meeting heard from 32 delegates and, despite the majority voicing their opposition to having police in schools, the board voted otherwise.
“Our kids are not your guinea pigs,” one parent said moments before the vote was called as trustees left the meeting room.
Board chairwoman Julie Kusiek voted in favour of the motion and told reporters it is “too soon to tell” what the formal role of police will be in schools and did not say whether the SRO program would be reinstated or if a new program would take its place.
“One thing that we did hear very strongly today was that relationships are paramount and so we'll be looking to see how relationships are maintained,” Kusiek said.
She said despite her previous opposition to the SRO program, she has heard the perspectives of principals and administration who have struggled with taking on roles beyond their capacity.
Kusiek stressed that she hears the concerns of parents and delegates who are against SROs being reinstated and that more work will be done.
The board voted in favour of a second motion to delegate authority over decisions, contracts or agreements with or related to policing, security or paramilitary organizations back to superintendent Darrel Robertson, who possessed that authority prior to the suspension of the program.
In 2020, an independent review of the program was conducted following a motion from Edmonton Public Schools trustees which included an analysis focusing on the experiences of Black, brown, and Indigenous students, students with disabilities and other students from marginalized communities.
Three years later, in June 2023, the commission study was released but leadership at EPS said they needed to hear more from students and staff prior to deciding the fate of the suspended SRO program.
“We did hear that accountability of police in our schools was a concern in the past and that there is a strong desire from the board to ensure that there is annual reporting. Now the superintendent will be able to have a conversation with police and talk about some opportunities,” Kusiek said.
Trustee Trisha Estabrooks, who voted against the motion, said after hearing from the delegations it is clear that addressing safety issues is a collective responsibility, but said that can occur without the formal role of police officers in schools.
“I think we can set up a system where we call in police as needed. What I see throughout the extensive information that we've spent significant time gathering is a need for another adult in our schools. Another person to be listening, to help navigate a challenging situation and to enhance school safety,” Estabrooks said.
A total of 37 speakers signed up to address the board of trustees with five delegates a no-show. However, the majority of delegates urged the board to vote against the reimplementation of police in schools and instead to look at alternative solutions.
David Kahane, a professor of political science at the University of Alberta and a parent to a Grade 9 student, said students need to learn to work to lessen interpersonal conflict and to resolve it in school communities.
“Our schools should teach our kids how to do this and our teachers how to teach this. Don't give the superintendent authority to invest in policing, instead help students themselves learn to address and mediate their own conflicts and invest in staff who can support this,” Kahane said.
“I talked to my son about SROs yesterday, not for the first time. And he wanted me to tell you that SROs in schools are, in his words, a terrible idea.”
Eleise Johnston, an assistant principal, said since the suspension of the SRO program administrators now have to deal with increased situations of violence that they are not equipped for involving students.
Johnston said her team has dealt with situations they never imagined before. She mentioned examples of students possessing machetes, handguns and students attacked with an axe in a bathroom.
“As administrators, we are not trained or equipped to deal with these situations,” she said.