TVDSB continues to pause police-in-schools program
CBC
The Thames Valley District School Board is continuing to pause its student resource officer (SRO) program, and is adding more diverse representation to the leadership team reviewing it.
In September, the TVDSB's director of education Mark Fisher issued an apology for the SRO program, which places armed police officers in schools.
Fisher's apology followed a months-long review indicating the program had a negative impact on students, particularly those who identify as BIPOC.
That review included consultations with students, staff, parents and community members to gauge their feelings on the presence of armed police officers in school hallways. The SRO program was then paused, following recommendations from a leadership team that includes leaders from N'Amerind Friendship Centre and Black Youth Connect.
At last night's meeting, the board amended its motion on pausing the program.
Trustee Carol Antone said the board's initial decision to review the SRO program originated from a recommendation put forward by the Black Lives Matter leadership team in June 2020. However, the present leadership team does not include a BLM member.
"It was unfortunate and disheartening to hear that a representative from the Black Lives Matter organization was not part of the leadership committee for this review," said Antone.
But current consultations are enough to show that the SRO program has generated harm among students, argued student trustee Harini Satheeskumar.
"The resources that are going into this program to be revamped and re-looked at once again could instead go toward supporting the input of community members and social workers in schools," said Satheeskumar.
"These resources do not have to go to this program, even for students who did not have a negative experience with it."
The board ultimately voted to include BIPOC student representation on the leadership committee.
It will decide on whether the SRO program will continue once after a further review of the program is completed. The leadership committee is required to provide the trustees with quarterly reports of the SRO review, along with any recommendations for approval.
The Toronto District School Board voted to end its SRO program in 2017, after finding it caused some students to feel uncomfortable and intimidated.
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.