OCDSB Human Rights and Equity Advisor Report: Policy and Practice Review of Police Involvement in Schools

OCDSB Human Rights and Equity Advisor Report: Policy and Practice Review of Police Involvement in Schools
Posted on 06/08/2021
OCDSB Human Rights and Equity Advisor Report: Policy and Practice Review of Police Involvement in Schools

The OCDSB Office of the Human Rights and Equity Advisor (HREA) has released a report as part of the Policy and Practice Review of Police Involvement in Schools.


The report reflects on the input gathered through consultation with students, parents, staff and community members on police involvement in schools. The report will be presented to the OCDSB Committee of the Whole on June 8, 2021.


Responding to community concerns about police involvement in schools, the Board of Trustees passed a motion on September 22, 2020 directing a review of Policy P.043.SCO Police Involvement in Schools, including the role or roles of the School Resource Officer (SRO).


The review of OCDSB practices of involving police in schools, began in November of 2020 with the formal consultation activities spanning four months. The consultation included both public and private discussions as well as written feedback submissions and anonymous surveys. The participant engagement for the HREA's report includes voices from both secondary school students, parents/guardians/caregivers and staff as well as input from the current and past SROs. All participants were offered the opportunity to provide individual feedback, and some made written submissions to the HREA directly and/or arranged for individual conversations. 


Other sources of information for the HREA's report included inquiry with other school districts, relevant reports and literature reviews from other districts, studies and research in the field of police involvement in schools.


The HREA's report has been organized to provide background information to reflect the intended outcomes of the OCDSB practices when engaging with Ottawa Police Service (OPS) as well as a presentation of the impacts as shared by participants in the multiple consultation activities. The HREA’s report includes sections on perceptions, perspectives and impacts as well as a section on connecting these perspectives to OCDSB policy and practice and to the available external research and reports. In addition, the HREA's report includes a scan of other Ontario school districts’ reviews and the scholarship and studies available. The HREA's report concludes with recommendations for staff to consider.


The OCDSB will use the observations presented in the HREA's report to consider and examine our practices in the partnership and relationship that we have with Ottawa Police Services.


The HREA’s report issues guidance and recommended considerations for decisions and direction with respect to future OCDSB practices when involving Ottawa Police Services. This guidance will be reflected upon to draft the revised policy document for presentation to the board of trustees in fall 2021.


The full report is available here: ocdsb.ca/UserFiles/Servers/Server_55394/File/News/OCDSB News/2021/June/Appendix A to Report 21-049.pdf


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