TDSB suspends police program in high schools
Motion brought to the floor of last-minute meeting by trustees and passed, pending review of initiative
The Toronto District School Board’s decision to suspend a controversial program that places armed police officers in high schools has come under criticism from officials who say the move was made in haste. But advocacy group Black Lives Matter said the decision marked a step forward.
TDSB trustees voted Wednesday night to discontinue the Student Resource Officer initiative, pending a review of the practice, due in November.
“It was felt that the presence of (officers) during the review when we were asking people to talk about them might be intimidating and create a potential bias,” TDSB chair Robin Pilkey told the Star.
About 16 votes were cast in favour of suspension and six votes were cast against, said Pilkey, who voted to suspend.
The Student Resource Officer program, in place since 2008, has garnered a mix of praise and criticism since its inception. Some students, parents and school staff have said the presence of armed, uniformed police improves safety, and gives teens a chance to get to know local officers.
“While this is not a full victory, this is an important step forward.” BLACK LIVES MATTER SAID IN A STATEMENT
Others have expressed concern that the program leads to criminalization of relatively minor schoolyard problems and alienates marginalized students who may not feel comfortable around police.
In June, the board ordered a review of the program to take place this fall.
A report on the planning for the TDSB review of the program was scheduled for Wednesday night’s board meeting, prompting trustee Marit Stiles to draft a motion for the program suspension.
“Earlier in the day, I circulated to all trustees a motion I intended to introduce related to the report (on the review),” Stiles told the Star. “It was introduced during the meeting as business arising from the (review) report.”
The trustees debated the suspension issue for at least an hour, Stiles added. The decision to suspend the program was “unfortunate,” Mayor John Tory told reporters on Thursday.
The Toronto Police Services Board, of which Tory is a member, has commissioned its own review of the SRO program, to be completed in spring 2018.
At least one trustee has said board officials should have been given time to consult with their communities before the vote.
Trustees would normally have a week or two to discuss a motion like this, “but we had no chance to do any of that,” said trustee Pamela Gough, who voted against the suspension.
“My decision last night not to support it was basically a status quo until we hear the evidence and we hear the voices of the people actually in the schools,” she added.
“Evidence-based decision making is better than taking a stab in the dark on a topic, especially when the motion came with such short notice.”
Stiles acknowledged that not all the trustees were comfortable with suspending the SRO program, but added that officials have had ample time to consider the public’s feelings about the practice.
“We’ve been talking about the future of the SRO program for quite some time,” Stiles said.
The controversy over the Student Resource Officer program erupted in May after a review of the nearly decade-old program was one of the items on the agenda of the Toronto police board meeting. A group of teachers and school workers presented a detailed report about the negative impact the program had in schools. A motion to suspend the program was deferred to June.
Things became more heated at the June board meeting, where 74 people spoke against uniformed police officers in school. Protesters from Black Lives Matter and other groups filled the auditorium at police headquarters. The meeting was disrupted acouple of times as tensions rose and board members were heckled. At the end of a long night, the board decided to postpone the decision over the motion until the end of the year.
It was no different during the board’s August meeting where Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders presented a plan to have Ryerson University perform a review of the contested program. Activists attended the meeting calling for board members to resign. They also carried signs saying “We’re here for Dafonte,” in reference to Black teen Da- fonte Miller who was allegedly beaten by an off-duty Toronto police officer and his brother.
Responding to the decision of the TDSB to suspend the program, Black Lives Matter put out a statement: “Last night, Toronto District School Board Trustees voted to temporarily suspend the School Resource Officer (SRO) program for the start of the school year. The program will be suspended to allow for the TDSB to conduct a review of the program, its effectiveness, and hear from students from marginalized communities about their experiences with cops in schools.
“While this is not a full victory, this is an important step forward. After years of activism from groups like Education Not Incarceration (ENI), and the Latinx, Afro-Latin-America, Abya Yala Education Network (LAEN), the TDSB has undertaken a thorough review of the program to happen throughout the fall.”
The TDSB has scheduled three community meetings for the week of Sept. 18 to 24 to discuss having police in schools.
Research findings will be made public by November, at which time the board will discuss whether, or how, the program should continue, Pilkey said. With files from Annie Arnone and Jennifer Pagliaro