Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the Police Presence and Programs in Schools review about?
Grand Erie is conducting a review of all police presence and programs in schools in order to understand their purpose, assess their outcomes, and assess their impact on students. The review will result in recommendations that will inform the Board’s decisions about whether and how these programs will continue.
Examples of these programs include School Resource Officers (SRO), Adopt a School, Values, Influencers and Peers (VIP), among others.
2. Why is the review taking place?
Grand Erie regularly reviews and updates its various programs to ensure that they continue to align with curriculum expectations and meet the needs of an increasingly diverse school community. Given that the programs were paused due to the COVID-19 restrictions, this was an opportune time for police presence and programs in schools to be reviewed.
3. Who is leading the review?
Turner Consulting Group, a consultancy firm which specializes in equity, diversity, and inclusion will lead this review. Their work will be supported by a working group of Grand Erie staff.
4. How will the review be conducted?
This review takes an evidence-based approach, that puts student perspectives and experiences at the centre. It will be conducted through a human rights and equity lens.
The review will include consultations with students, staff, and others in the school community through one-on-one interviews, focus groups, and online surveys. Members of the police services as well as leaders and educators within the school board will also be interviewed to hear their perspectives and experiences.
5. How long will the review take?
The review began in January 2023 and a report scheduled to be completed by June.
6. What will Grand Erie do after the review is completed?
The results and recommendations from the review will be used to make informed policy decisions about police presence and programs in schools.
7. How can I participate in the review?
Parents, caregivers and community members were invited to participate in a community surevey, which closed April 21, 2023.
Students and staff had opportunities to participate in focus groups and a survey, and police officers were invited to partivcipate in focus groups.
8. I heard police were banned from Grand Erie schools. Is this true?
While some police-related programs in Grand Erie schools have been paused due to COVID-19, we still call on police partners to respond, as they continue to do, to emergencies or situations that require their expertise and authority. Regardless of the outcomes of this review, we will continue to rely on this service and partnership for the health and safety of students and staff.
9. Other school boards maintained police programs during their reviews. Why is Grand Erie’s paused?
A look at recent police program reviews by school boards in Ontario show that the majority have paused these programs for the review process.
10. What does it mean that you are conducting this review through an equity lens?
An equity lens is a process for analyzing the impact of programs on under-served, marginalized, and diverse individuals and groups. This means that we will focus on the how 2SLGBTQ+ students, Indigenous students, students with disabilities and special needs, newcomer students, and racialized students are affected by police presence and programs in Grand Erie schools.