Edmonton Public Schools opens the door to return police officers to schools
CBC
Edmonton public school trustees have re-opened the door to stationing police officers in schools, more than three years after suspending the long-standing program.
Trustee Marsha Nelson, who put forward the motion, said the results of an academic study, consultations with principals and students and a spring survey made it clear people valued the officers in schools.
"For those who have doubts about having police play a role in our schools, I hear your concerns, too," Nelson said. "But I'm confident that our staff will work with all of our students, and help them, and all of our students, feel safe."
The decision deeply divided the eight board trustees, who voted 5-3 in favour of bringing back police.
After each trustee made their stance clear, several observers walked out of the crowded meeting chambers Tuesday.
The board did not decide whether the program would look like the school resource officer (SRO) model that was put in place in 1979, or when police would return to schools. Superintendent Darrel Robertson said it is each principal's choice whether they want an officer.
At a special meeting of the board Tuesday, 32 members of the public spoke, including 26 people who opposed the police's return.
Edmonton parent Robin Kyler said the board failed to try other approaches to improve school safety after the superintendent paused the SRO program in September 2020.
Many speakers wanted the board to invest more in teachers, smaller class sizes, educational assistants, social workers, mental health therapists, meal programs and other proactive measures to keep children from running afoul of the law.
"Bringing back this program sounds like giving up to me," Tyler said.
Dilraj Grewal, a master of education student, said he spent his school years cowering in school hallways, feeling like a "dangerous brown kid" who was trying to avoid the police.
Officers searched lockers and demanded to see identification seemingly at random, he said, which was "embarrassing and violating."
Other speakers opposed to the program cited research about police in schools leading to the criminalization of children, and lack of evidence that school-based police prevent crime.
The school division previously covered half the cost of the SRO program, for about $1.2 million per year. It's unclear how much a new program would cost or who would pay.
Aggressive patients and lack of security are making nurses feel unsafe in a rural Western Manitoba emergency union, says the Manitoba Nurses Union.
Saskatoon resident Delynne Bortis knew her commute to work Tuesday morning would be particularly difficult.
WARNING: This story contains details of abuse and intimate partner violence:
The amount of money it takes for people to earn a living wage has increased across the province, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.
Fort William First Nation is opposing a planned redevelopment of the Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) 117 year old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, which is located in their traditional territory.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.
A Waterloo, Ont., elementary school principal will be sentenced in the new year after pleading guilty to child sexual exploitation charges following a joint investigation that involved the London, Toronto and Waterloo police services.
Students at UPEI have let their student union know what they want from the province this fiscal year, and those priorities are reflected in a 2024-2025 advocacy document brought to the legislature on Wednesday.
Larger communities in the N.W.T. will soon see a boost in their territorial funding to maintain infrastructure and deliver services — like water and waste management — but the increase still falls short of what communities need.