The Collingwood Police Services Board is calling on Simcoe County school boards to re-instate police-led programming in schools, following the cancellation of the programs this school year.
In a letter sent to Collingwood/Wasaga Beach public board trustee Mike Foley at the end of June, Collingwood Police Services Board chair Claire Tucker-Reid calls on the Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) to do more research before completely writing off police programs in schools.
“As the current chair of the Collingwood Police Services Board, I have a particular interest in doing the right thing in serving and meeting our community safety needs,” said Tucker-Reid in her letter. “I am advocating for much greater community dialogue and research on this subject.”
“Our stance is that this is a policy issue and that any actions must be evidenced-based and involve the faculty and students who are affected,” she said.
Both the Simcoe County District School Board and Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board cancelled police-led classes in their schools this past year, which ended a long-standing arrangement between various police partners across Simcoe County and the two boards. The school resource officers at the secondary level were also told this year they could only attend schools by invitation, whereas previously they had held in-school office hours and were free to walk the halls.
Trustees for both boards were informed of the change in April.
In the letter, Tucker-Reid notes that Collingwood has had police officers in schools since 1989. The town invests $4.73 million in policing annually through their budget, with an additional $190,000 paying for the school resource officer (SRO) program.
She also references a petition started by Our Lady of the Bay Catholic High School students calling for police programs to be returned back to Collingwood schools. The petition currently sits at about 650 signatures.
“There is a need for much greater co-ordinated input and research,” wrote Tucker-Reid. “You cannot avoid these steps in setting meaningful public policy.”
“Much more engagement and dialogue are needed before a meaningful and fair-minded decision can be made,” she said.
Tucker ends her letter by extending an olive branch.
“We want to work together on this critical issue and strongly urge school board trustees to set the right direction for staff, consider all inputs and approve an approach from a community-driven governance perspective,” she wrote.
While both Simcoe County public and Catholic school boards are now on summer break, when contacted for comment about the letter, Foley said he had forwarded the letter to all trustees to be included with the board reports at their first meeting back on Aug. 30.
“All the board members will be aware of it when they get their August package,” said Foley. “We’ll discuss it at the August meeting.”
