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2 bd 3 Continued from page 1 = come under criticism by those who claim that having © police in schools is detri- mental toa positive learning § environment. Those criti- ® cisms have o seen a rise in = 2 support over the years and, Z notably, the Toronto Dis- trict School Board removed its Police i in-school program back in 2 At the HCDSB, the boa board of trustees voted in ber 2021 in favour step a pause while data was collected on the program. In 2022, 1,924 different stakeholders — in- cluding staff, students and parents — were consulted about the issue. As a result, the SLO program is set to re- turn this September. Pat Daly, director of ed- ucation at the HCDSB, said hursday, September 1, 2022 | in schools, their findings are that the vast majority Home of the — $29.99 basic in & out car wash harge for larger vehicles insidehalton.com want them there. “Most parents and most students indicated in that process that they felt the SLO program should con- tinu till c cerns among some about tive impact. police can have in schools,” said Daly. The data collection in- volved five virtual focus groups and five online sur- veys. Stakeholders were SLO pi valu- able they thor ought it was to the schools and how aware of it they even were. Theextensive quantity of responses to those surveys did reveal that the majority were in support of the pro- but there were differ- ences in the responses from. those who self-identified as racialized versus those who didn't. For example, in one "Police definitely have a role, but so do social workers, so do having community groups coming in, so does having lawyers come in and present. There's lots of different ways to achieve the goals of the SLO prigran. question, 81 per cent of the 236 ident respondents said a ley agree with the statement "It is a good idea for Halton Regional Police to assis officers to schools." However, 14 per cent of the students who self-identified as racialized indicated they did not agree with that statement. For the student respondents who identified as not racialized, only eight per cent dis- Happy More than lex Power agreed with the statement. Alex Power, an Oakville parent with three children in the HCDSB system, said the board should take note or oe students who are objection and jook at at the issue through an equity lens. "We know that while, yes, there isa majority of people who are positive re- views, but that majority ex- ists within the non-racial- Labour #1 Choice co) ANU ce) Detailing & Car Wash 5 A nas READERS’ CHOICE 2021 Favorite Car Wash OPEN DAILY 9-5 pm Come visit us to ued population and the ra- ized population is say- in that there's damage or ing of the HCDSB, a repre- sentative of the Police-Free Schools organization pre- sented in opposition to re- the SLO program. They argued that having po- lice in schools entrenches a school-to-prison or deporta- tion pipeline for students. They further argued having police in the schools creates a less wel- coming environment for many racialized students. Power said she is not suggesting that the board should cut ties with the po- lice. "Police definitely have a role, but so do social wi work- ers, so do having co: ty groups coming, in so does having lawyers come inand present. There's lots gi MOST STUDENTS, PARENTS IN FAVOUR OF PROGRAM: SURVEY of different ways to achieve the goals of the SLO pro- gram without doing harm to our racialized communi- ties," said Power. e Halton Regional Po- lice Service was contacted for this story. They indicat- thus declined to provide fur- ther comment at this time. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Having police in schools has been a source of much debate, and with the SLO program set to return to Halton's Catholic schools, we wanted to share how students, par- ents and educators feel about the issue. me SCAN THIS CODE \r more local news. lUSime) AR WASH. Hts 2380 Royal Windsor Drive | (905)823-1000 | Mississauga | https: ae a com