Kitchener MPP wants police to return to Ontario classrooms as part of school resource officer program

A Kitchener MPP wants to see school resource officers back in the hallways of Ontario schools after some school boards cancelled their programs.

MPPs will debate a new private member's bill from Kitchener South-Hespeler MPP Jess Dixon on Tuesday that would encourage publicly funded school boards to work closely with local police services to have officers in schools. 

Some boards opted to remove the school resource officer program, including in Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, London and Waterloo region. In Peel Region, the police service opted to end the program in July 2020.

Dixon said she remembers when the Waterloo Region District School Board paused the school resource officer program in 2020 and voted to end it in 2021.

"I very much remember when that decision was made and feeling very frustrated. Similar decision-making, I think, for the other boards who decided to remove it where it seemed like a sort of a knee-jerk reaction," she said in an interview with Craig Norris, host of CBC K-W's The Morning Edition.

She said one of the reasons she wants to see police officers return to classroom is they play a role in "building trust and building relationships with children and students and communities that may not trust or feel comfortable around police."

The Waterloo Region District School Board voted in June 2020 to suspend the program after concerns were raised by community groups.

One of the organizations was the African, Caribbean and Black Network of Waterloo Region, which at the time was calling for police to be defunded. It also came in the wake of the death of George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis, Minn., during an arrest when the police officer kneeled on his neck and back, making it impossible for Floyd to breath. The officer, Derek Chauvin, was found guilty of murder and manslaughter.

ACB Network advisory committee member Ruth Cameron told CBC News at the time that schools need to be a safe space for young people, but not everyone felt safe with police in the hallways.

"How are you going to engage in learning, in a space that is supposed to be a safe space ... when you experience that kind of fear, humiliation and stigmatization in a learning environment?" Cameron said. 

The board voted 8-2 in June 2021 to end the school resource officer program, despite objections from trustee Mike Ramsay, a former police officer. Ramsay argued the school board was making a decision that was "emotionally based and not evidence based."

In July 2021, the school board issued an apology to people negatively impacted by the program.

"The move to end the program aligns with our commitment to ensuring that our schools are welcoming and supportive learning environments for each and every one of our students," the board said in a statement on its website.

CBC News requested an interview with new Waterloo Region District School Board chair Maedith Radlein about Dixon's private member's bill.